My Genius Sister
by lil'chrome-chan
Summary: Eren Jaeger is an ordinary high school boy with strong ambition to be the best. The problem is, his foster sister, Mikasa Ackerman, is a genius who outsmarts him in every subject. Living under the same roof with such person, it's only the matter of time until Eren's patience wore off. AU. ErenXMikasaXRivaille and many other pairings
1. Genius Mind, Genius Talk

**This is my first SnK fic so go easy on me please :3**

**I am simply a fangirl who squeals for Mikasa, I don't really care who she is paired with as long as the guy is good looking ;3 But my OTP is ErenXMikasa after all **

**This is a shameful confession but I actually have an incest fetish so I really love how Eren and Mikasa looking all brother-sister-like XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

The little girl looked at how the little boy tried his hardest to draw the apple on the table.

Their mother was washing dishes while their father was reading morning newspaper. None of their parents really paid attention to them at the moment.

She went to the little boy's side and looked closely at the picture he drew. It was childish. But it was natural since they were children.

Sensing her curiosity, the boy offered her one of his crayons. She took the blue crayon and started drawing on the paper. The boy laughed at her. For apple was red and not blue.

It was not like she didn't know. But the red crayon was still in his hand so she had to choose another color.

When the drawing was finished, the boy stared in awe.

"Wow, Mikasa, you're good at this! Are you a genius? Teach me how to do it!"

She didn't notice she had used other crayons to beautify her drawing as well.

Their parents had taken notice and started praising her, saying she might have talent as an artist.

A small smile made its way to her lips.

"I'll teach you how to do it, Eren."

* * *

Eren ran.

Today, he was sure that he would beat Mikasa's record.

"_Who's that? He's running like a cheetah."_

Eren finished his lap in 47:17 seconds and fist-pumped as he had already beaten Mikasa's former record, which was 47:19 seconds.

"_You don't know him? He's Eren Jaeger from class 1-04."_

He smiled cockily at the black-haired girl who had been watching him carefully from the start. Her face didn't show much expression when facing the cocky smile of Eren. And slowly, she went to the start line.

"_Oh, I remember now! _That_ Eren Jaeger, right?"_

With a loud shot, Mikasa started running.

"_Yeah, that one…"_

The speed she managed was not that of a normal human. Eren's eyes slowly widened at how much faster she was today than before. In no time, his eyes found Mikasa at the finish line, all calm and barely sweating. That time, Eren found himself glaring at that foster sister of his.

"…_the guy who always competes with his sister, right?"_

* * *

_**My Genius Sister**_

_By: lil'chrome-chan_

**Chapter 1. Genius Mind, Genius Talk**

* * *

"That's awesome, Mikasa! I mean, 40 seconds for one lap? That's cool!"

Armin had been showering Mikasa with praises on their way back to class. Eren was clearly unhappy about it and he decided to shut up while trying to calm his supposedly anger. He was foolish to think that he could beat Mikasa today.

"Eren? Why are you being quiet? Are you not feeling well?" Mikasa asked with a slightly concerned expression.

Huffing, Eren answered the girl with an unhappy tone, "I'm fine, stop treating me like a little kid, Mikasa! This is what I hate about you."

Looking a little hurt, Mikasa lowered her head and muttered a "Sorry…"

Suddenly feeling guilty, Eren scratched the back of his head and hesitanly patted the black-haired girl's head. "Don't make that face, that's so not you."

Mikasa nodded and shifted her expression to her usual stoic one.

* * *

"Listen guys! Culture festival is near. Do any of you have suggestions for what our class should do?"

Reiner Braun, the class representative, suddenly declared.

Beside him was Bertholdt Fubar, smiling nervously at his friend's enthusiasm like always. And the other person in front of the class besides those two was Annie Leonhardt, who seemingly had been forcefully dragged by Reiner to participate more in class activity. Annie had her usual unpleasant expression on her face as Reiner kept pulling her to stand in the middle.

At a certain side of the class, Sasha Braus and Connie Springer were busy talking about how it'd be good if they could do a takoyaki stand. But the class would surely go against it or they're sure Sasha would eat everything and leave nothing for the customers.

At the other side of the class, Ymir was talking to Christa Renz about how she wanted to see the blonde dressed as a maid. But then again, she didn't want anyone else to stare at her little girl so she didn't suggest on maid café after all.

Jean Kirschtein happened to listen to the girls' conversation and had started imagining Mikasa in maid outfit.

"O-oi, Mikasa."

The silent girl turned to look at him.

"H-how do you think about maid café? Wouldn't you like to dress as a maid once?"

Mikasa looked at the side and started pondering.

"Ah… I'd like to see Eren in maid outfit."

"Huh!? What the hell do you think you're saying, Mikasa!?" Eren quickly shot a retort.

"Yeah! Who'd want to see this monkey in maid outfit!?" Jean frantically added.

In a matter of second, Eren flashed a glare at Jean. "Huh? Who're you calling a monkey, you chimpanzee?"

Jean fearlessly glared back at the shorter boy, a vein in his face throbbed fiercely.

It'd become a glaring competition if only Mikasa didn't stand up from her seat and separate the two.

"Fighting is not allowed."

"…."

Jean was completely tamed by Mikasa but Eren glared at her.

"Come on! Think of something to do for the festival! Someone? Anyone!?"

Reiner had started shouting in front of the class while Bertholdt tried to calm him down and Annie, obviously ignoring them, had started reading a book while sitting on the teacher's chair.

"Takoyaki stand!" by Sasha.

"Drama!" by Connie.

"Okonomiyaki stand!" by Sasha again.

"Maid café!" by Jean.

"Choco-banana stand!" by Sasha _again._

"Haunted house!" by Ymir.

"Steamed potato stand!" by Sasha, _yet again._

"Fortune-telling!" by Christa.

The sudden flood of opinions confused Reiner and he decided to consider them one by one. He glanced at the short girl at the teacher's table and smiled cockily afterward.

"Let's go with maid café, then."

"Please add steamed potato to the menu!" Sasha demanded.

"Add whatever you want to the menu, Potato Girl!" Reiner shouted.

"Yosha!"

"Wait for a moment there, Reiner, maid café? I'm not participating." Annie, who had stopped reading book, walked toward the built blond with unpleasant expression.

"Why not, Annie? With your small body you'll look cute in maid outfit, I'm sure!"

"Is that so? Then I'll have you fulfill one condition."

"What is it?" Reiner smiled.

The blonde turned to face the whole class and said, "Every single guy present in this classroom must wear either the so-called maid outfit or a mascot costume."

The whole class gasped.

"Wait—What!? Annie, are you serious!?"

Annie turned back to Reiner.

"It's unfair for girls to be the only ones humiliated. Or are you unsatisfied with it? Then we can think of another thing to do for the festival."

Reiner blinked. This girl had totally outsmarted him in this situation. And this was supposed to be a punishment-game-like thing for her at first. Now it ended up like this. Damn, what should he do? Should he change his decision?

"What are you doing, Reiner? Are you going to willingly humiliate yourself!?" Eren shouted from the back.

"The pride of every single guy in this class is in your hand, Reiner!" Jean added.

"Neither maid outfit nor mascot costume sounds good to me!" Connie commented.

In a blink of an eye, the class started a riot.

But it didn't last long. As Mikasa stood up and slammed the table, hard, almost splitting in in halves. With that, the class went silent.

Mikasa spoke up, "Let's go with maid café. Guys, this is not about humiliating yourself or anything. This is about enjoying our youth. High school life isn't that long and culture festival is only held once a year. Be shameless now and it'll be a memory you will talk and laugh about in your adulthood. Something you'll never forget for the rest of your life, something that will only happen… in high school. This kind of chance, you will never have it anymore."

After Mikasa's speech, the silence broke into a crying session.

"She's right! How could we forget this?"

"I'm sure this is gonna be a great topic to talk about in our school reunion ten years later!"

"I'm fine with whatever Mikasa decides!"

"Mikasa went as far as giving a speech. How bad could this be?"

Everyone seemed to have agreed with Annie's condition. But the blonde herself didn't understand why Mikasa would help her while they didn't get along at all.

The only person who knew Mikasa's true intention was probably Eren alone.

"It's clearly written in your eyes that you simply want to see me in maid outfit!" he shouted.

Mikasa tucked her red scarf, hiding her blush.

"At least tell me I'm wrong!"

* * *

Eren and Reiner walked down the stairs, carrying carton boxes of equipment for the maid café.

"Thanks Eren, I didn't think you'd volunteer yourself to be a committee."

"No problem, Reiner. I have plenty of free time."

Reiner chuckled.

"Anyway, didn't Mikasa want to participate, too? Why didn't you let her?"

"That girl, she always thinks I can't do anything without her. It pisses me off. And she's got work anyway. She's already tired everytime she got home I don't want her to take any unnecessary additional work."

"What? She works? Did the school give permission?"

"Yeah, sort of. It's only part-time anyway."

"Mikasa's great, too great."

"Yeah…" Eren's eyes turned darker.

Again.

Someone was praising Mikasa in front of him again. He didn't like the feeling. No matter how hard he tried he could never beat her. Every subject he learned and tried to learn, Mikasa would immediately chase up as soon as she began. And she would be the one to teach it to him in the end.

It was unfair.

"Must be nice to have a sis like her, eh?" Reiner slapped Eren's back a couple of time.

Eren smiled bitterly.

"You think so?"

"Of course! If I have a sis like her I'll brag to everyone about it!"

"Brag, huh? What's the point in having a sister who never needs your help?"

Reiner tilted his head, "So… basically, you want her to rely on you?"

"H, huh!? How the hell did you come up with that assumption? I just don't like how she's better than me, that's all!"

"Hmm? That so? I see, I see…"

Eren walked faster and left Reiner behind.

* * *

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Eren."

Eren could hear Mikasa's voice from the main room. He could smell food but couldn't really identify what food it was. When he arrived to the main room he could see Mikasa in apron. She was cooking something, it seemed.

"Geh! You're cooking!?"

"Um. I was thinking that I lack cooking skill so I need practice. I can't possibly let you eat foods from outside every day, it's unhealthy."

"Well, your cooking doesn't look _healthy_!"

"I'm confident I'm getting better today."

"You better be."

Cooking was the one of the few things Mikasa never managed to master despite being a genius. The other was sewing, which was why Eren came to a conclusion that Mikasa didn't have what it was to be a family-oriented girl.

The food was done, and it was curry.

Eren tasted it and true, it was far better than the last time she had cooked.

"How is it?" Mikasa asked.

"It's good."

But for some reason, Eren lost his appetite.

For this marked the beginning of another winning contest for Mikasa. Slowly, she would be genius in cooking as well as sewing. She would be good at everything that Eren would only feel even more useless by then.

Putting his spoon beside his plate, Eren pondered.

_Why do you have to be a genius, Mikasa?_

* * *

**_I am going to make this a multi-chaptered fic depending on the amount of reviews. If this story is not well-liked I will have to dispose of it so please tell me what you think ;3_**


	2. I've Had Enough of This!

**Hey guys, this is me again! And wow, the amount of reviews exceeded my expectation! I was fired up when I write this chapter so I hope you guys will like it :3**

**Thank you very much for_hiyomi, jneth1lary88, Stargazer Aika, ParagonFlynn, Milia, lone green leaf, KK, alex, Miwokgirl101, kaminokaze no arashi, mashemele, Nikka-chan, Guest, Berry9704, Silentux131, Dinendir, MobileClaspy, AoiHana26, The Picturesque Skyline,_** **and_ ProudToBeaFIlipina _for your reviews. They mean so much to me :)**

**Also, thank you for you who favorite and follow this fic ;)**

**Alright, please enjoy your read~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

The little girl sat at the corner of the bed, hiding herself inside the blanket.

She was still not used to this family. It didn't feel like her home at all. No mom and dad. The whole thing felt foreign. She wanted to return to her old life despite knowing it was impossible. No matter how hard she tried she could never return what she had lost.

The door of the bedroom opened and the boy peaked inside before deciding to enter.

"Mikasa? It's time for dinner. Let's go."

"…I'm not hungry…"

Eren walked toward her and removed the blanket.

"Come on, mom's cooking is so good. And she especially cooks a lot today to welcome you."

"Tell her I'm sorry…"

"I'm not listening. Come now," he pulled her hand and she finally got off the bed.

When she followed him slowly from behind, she had her head lowered the whole time. Suddenly, Eren turned around and she brought her head up to face him.

"I heard from dad about your family. I'm sorry about that. But, Mikasa… this isn't the end. Fight it! If you lose, you die. But if you win, you live. If you don't fight, you can't win."

Mikasa looked at him with mixed expression. Surprise, awe, and confusion were present at the same time.

Smiling, Eren tightened his grip on her hand without hurting her and said, "We're family now. No matter what happens I'll always be your ally. If you can't fight alone we'll fight together."

The girl's eyes slightly widened before hot tears suddenly trailed down her cheeks.

"Um…" she nodded.

Eren grinned and patted her head, "You're unexpectedly a crybaby. Don't cry, mom and dad will think I did something bad to you."

She nodded again.

* * *

**Chapter 2. I've Had Enough of This!**

* * *

Mikasa had always been good at tricking people with play of words, Eren had noted that.

For example, in the previous chapter, she managed to convince every single guy in he class (except Eren) to practically wear either maid outfit or mascot constume for the school festival event merely with a relatively short speech.

Mikasa is a scary girl who can get what she wants just by speaking up.

No.

Mikasa is a genius girl who is ignorant enough to make use of her intelligence for something very insignificant; seeing Eren in maid outfit.

* * *

That morning, Eren woke up earlier than Mikasa.

The girl was still sleeping soundly beside him when he woke up, probably tired after working yesterday.

Eren looked around. Their decent apartment, their living expenses, all were covered by Mikasa alone. After their mother died five years ago and their father left them behind, Mikasa had replaced their roles in Eren's life, acting as both mother and father for him despite being a girl. But that's exactly what made him feel useless.

He looked at the sleeping girl and unconsciously scowled.

"It's your own fault for being a genius at everything."

* * *

In a peaceful morning in class 1-04, Reiner, followed by Bertholdt, shouted excitedly after opening the door.

"Annie! Guess what? I borrowed this maid outfit from the drama club! Care to try it out?"

Annie, who was reading book in her seat, ignored Reiner as soon as she saw him, dismissing him as a fata morgana. He didn't learn anything even after she expressed her irritation to him by threatening to pull the whole guys in the class into humiliation yesterday.

"Hey, hey, don't ignore me. Please wear this as reference to the other girls."

Reiner snickered as he shoved the maid outfit into her face.

"Why must I be the one? Ask Christa or Sasha."

"What!? I refuse! Christa will wear mascot costume with me!" Ymir quickly took Christa into her arms, securing her.

"See? Ymir's got her own issues. And geez, Annie, Sasha's size isn't even near yours."

With that, Annie quickly flashed a glare at the much taller guy. "Are you trying to say that I'm short? You've got guts." Her voice was far from friendly.

Reiner gulped and sweated.

"W, well, what I wanted to say was that you're smaller than her!"

"Smaller, huh? In what terms, chest?" Annie's blue eyes glinted with murderous intent.

"N, no! Why do you keep misinterpreting what I say!?"

At the back of the class Jean sighed.

"Look, those two are at it again."

"Reiner just wants Annie to be a part of the class." Marco smiled nervously.

"Nah. That guy's being too desperate about it. I'm sure he has feelings for Annie," Jean snickered.

"Really? I thought it's Christa?" Marco asked curiously.

"Nah, I bet on it!"

Just as Jean had started to enjoy himself talking about the two, he spotted Mikasa, Eren and Armin entering the class. The trio always arrived to school together; typical best friends.

Eren and Armin seemed to have a conversation while Mikasa walked silently, sometimes yawning or rubbing her eyes.

"Oh shit, the first period is math, right? I'm sure Pixis-sensei will return our test result today." Eren said.

"You did great on the test, Eren. You will get perfect score this time." Mikasa said with a small smile.

"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't want to lose to you again." Eren rolled his eyes.

Pixis-sensei returned the test result as soon as the class begun. Eren excitedly received his and his lips formed and ear-to-ear grin when he saw the three lucky numbers on his paper. He got perfect score! At last he could beat Mikasa, or at least tie. He kept on grinning when Mikasa received her turn.

When she made her way back to her seat, she noticed something wrong and returned to Pixis-sensei to inform it to him.

The teacher uncharacteristically panicked and quickly changed the score.

When Mikasa got back, Eren asked her what happened.

"I found a marking error so Pixis-sensei gave me an extra 5." Mikasa said while showing her test paper with a foreign set of number on it; 105.

Eren went silent for a while.

"Holy shit, Mikasa! What the hell's wrong with you and overly-perfect score!?" Eren slammed the table in anger.

Mikasa frowned sadly, "Are you mad, Eren? I didn't mean to anger you…"

"Argh! Just kill me!" Eren slammed his face on the table and sulked.

"Eren—"

"Shut up! Don't talk to me!"

Mikasa lowered her head, looking guilty.

Armin looked back and forth at the two and tried to think of something to say but failed to do so. In the end, he decided to shut up and went back to sit.

* * *

The girls had decided to eat at the cafeteria to accompany Mikasa since Eren refused to eat lunch with her. He was still sulking about what happened before and had given Mikasa a silent treatment.

"Eren is the worst. I can't believe he said those things to you for that kind of reason." Ymir commented.

"Y, yes… He shouldn't yell like that… Poor Mikasa…" Christa said sadly.

"H-here, Mikasa, since you're in low spirits I'll give half of my lunch to you." Sasha said, pushing her lunchbox to Mikasa who sat beside her.

"No, I'm okay with my lunch alone. You can have yours." Mikasa said lifelessly.

"I, is that so? Thank you very much!"

Sasha quickly devoured her lunch. She had the appetite of a Titan.

"Sasha, you're not supposed to eat like that in front of a depressed person. And you, Annie, say something." Ymir turned around to the blonde girl who sat alone at the table behind theirs.

Annie looked at them with her usual half-lidded eyes, "Eren is just being childish. There's nothing more to it." Then she continued eating her bread.

"See? There's nothing to worry about, Mikasa." Ymir tried to convince the black-haired girl.

Mikasa nodded, her eyes still looking empty.

Christa had started to get worried and looked at Ymir while pointing at Mikasa. Ymir shook her head and sighed hopelessly. The two decided to give a body signal to Sasha too but the brunette was too busy eating her lunch to notice. Annoyed, Ymir confiscated her lunchbox and that freaked her out.

"No! Anything but my lunch—"

Ymir put a finger over her lips, signaling her to stay quiet. Then she pointed at Mikasa.

Getting the meaning, Sasha looked at Mikasa in worry.

"Mikasa, let's not think about—"

"You're hopeless, Mikasa. If merely a few words from Eren are what needed to take the spirits out of you, you don't have the right to call yourself top of the class."

Mikasa lift her head up to face Annie, who had stood beside her table.

"But I'll be honest here. Eren is at the wrong. He's childish, hotheaded, immature, unwise, stu—"

"Don't insult Eren!"

Ymir, Christa, and Sasha were frozen in place when Mikasa suddenly stood up and slammed the table.

Not even batting an eyelash, Annie glanced at Mikasa.

"Eren's a good person… He is nothing like you described!"

"Is that so? Then why is this _good person _making you feel down?"

Glaring coldly at the blonde, Mikasa left the cafeteria.

"Oi, oi, what was that about, Annie?" Ymir asked, her chin lazily rested on her palm.

"Now Mikasa is going to make up with Eren no matter what…" Christa stated, glancing at Annie.

"Eren's a good guy he'll grow soft after a few sorries!" Sasha laughed.

Annie walked away, "Consider this my thanks for helping me yesterday, Mikasa. Now I owe you nothing…" she muttered.

After Annie left, Sasha commented something about Mikasa's lunch being homemade.

* * *

"H-hey, Eren… I think you shouldn't blame Mikasa like that. I mean, she did nothing wrong, right? You can't keep treating her like this…" Armin tried to convince Eren.

Eren opened his lunchbox and frowned.

"Mikasa cooked this…" he muttered, sounding indifferent.

"H, huh? She can cook?"

"She was up late reading the cooking manual last night. Who would be able to cook just by reading the manual and without practice?" Eren said as he threw an egg roll inside his mouth and started munching it.

"Y, yeah… Usually people would—Eren, what's wrong?" Armin asked when Eren suddenly put his chopsticks away.

"It's good, too good…"

"Eh? Then, what's the problem?"

"She managed to become an expert in just one night, and on top of all, after only reading the manual? You got to be kidding me! I did try to cook several times and it ended up disastrous!"

"Um… Eren, this is just a guess but… I think Mikasa only—"

"Eren!"

Eren clicked his tongue when he saw Mikasa entering the class.

"What now?"

"Eren, I'm sorry for whatever I did that make you angry. Would you forgive me?" Mikasa bowed.

That made Eren realized. He was being childish. None of this was actually Mikasa's fault. She only did what she could and got the score she deserved. Never did she show off to him at all, either. He got angry for no apparent reason, simply being jealous of her and yelled at her despite her not doing anything wrong.

Sighing, he finally nodded.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, too."

Mikasa's expression quickly lightened up.

"Anyway, don't you think you're being too soft lately? You used to scold me for being childish. You're supposed to do so too this time."

Mikasa tilted her head, "…Eh?" then she lowered her head, "But if I do so, I'm afraid you'll get mad even more… You look really hurt back there, Eren. I automatically think that I hurt you, so…"

Seeing how guilty Mikasa looked, Eren grew soft.

Beside him, Armin smiled, elbowing him ever so lightly. Eren half-glared at the blond before looking at Mikasa again.

He placed his hand on her head, rubbing it gently, "No, you did nothing wrong. I was, you know, too emotional back there."

Relieved, Mikasa faintly smiled.

It was before someone suddenly barged into the class, followed by two others.

"Is Mikasa Ackerman here?"

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

**_I got the idea for the scene where Mikasa got the score exceeding 100 from a certain anime. Any of you can guess? :3_**

**_And can you guess who's saying the last line of this chapter? ;3_**

**_Alright, see you in the next chapter~_**


	3. Untold

**Hi, guys! I hope I didn't make you wait! This is the third chapter of "My Genius Sister"!**

**Firstly, I'd like to thank **_**Stargazer-Aika, clover 4 leaves, arkcess, Nikka-Chan, DarkEnforzer, alex, Ashley Silver, hiyomi, Chocobo1374, Guest, AoiHana26, KK, **_**and **_**QuantumComplexity **_**for reviewing the previous chapter. Please review again! *heart***

**Also, partly under the suggestion of **_**alex**_**, I had decided to begin the friendship between Annie and Eren! Actually I had planned this from the very start since Annie is my favorite female character after Mikasa, but oh well!**

**And then, for the two questions in the previous chapter, namely "What anime did I get the idea for the scene where Mikasa got the score exceeding 100 from?" and "Who said the last line of this chapter?", most of you gave the right answer for the second question. As for the the first question, only one of you answered it, and the answer was perfect! Yes, **_**jneth1lary88**_**, I got the idea for the scene from the anime 'Special A'! XD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

He placed his hand on her head, rubbing it gently, "No, you did nothing wrong. I was, you know, too emotional back there."

Relieved, Mikasa faintly smiled.

It was before someone suddenly barged into the class, followed by two others.

"Is Mikasa Ackerman here?"

Mikasa turned around to face the person looking for her. After recognizing the person, Mikasa quickly presented herself in front of him.

"I have something I need to discuss with you, Ackerman."

"What might it be, _kaichou_?"

Eren examined the person talking to Mikasa. He was a lot shorter but certainly wore the expression of an older man capable of calling himself a_senpai. _And after a while, Eren realized he knew this person. He saw him when he accompanied Reiner to the Student Council room to submit their class' decision for culture festival event. He was Rivaille-_kaichou, _a third year, and the student council president of the school. Beside him was the vice president, Irvin-_senpai. _And the other person was Hanji Zoë_-senpai_, the secretary of the student council.

But what did those important people have to say to Mikasa?

"I believe we shouldn't talk here where this many people gather. Come. We will talk in the Student Council room."

"Yes." Mikasa turned around, "I'll be going, Eren." She reported.

Eren nervously nodded.

When Mikasa left, the class started whispering about what Mikasa could have done to be summoned to the Student Council room. Usually, only problem children got summoned there. But Mikasa was the top student of their year and she had never done any mistake huge enough for her to be punished.

But then Eren heard Ymir mentioning something he never expected.

"This is not the first time Mikasa's summoned there, right?"

* * *

**Chapter 3. Untold**

* * *

That day, Mikasa spent most of her time in the Student Council room.

Not having committee work, Eren decided to go home ahead of her, since she decided to stay at school for a while, accompanied by Armin. And while still thinking about why Mikasa was summoned to the Student Council room, Eren pondered all the while walking home. Getting worried, Armin asked him what he was thinking.

"What could possibly cause Mikasa to be summoned more than once to the Student Council room?"

"Err… that's… Maybe they're informing her of her achievements?"

"Why would they need to do that? It's the job of our homeroom teacher."

"I know! Mikasa must have participated in an Olympiad!"

"She'd have told me if she did."

"Ugh… Err…"

Just as Eren was deep in thought again, he noticed someone familiar in a narrow alley he just passed. He took a step back and peaked into the alley once again, followed by Armin. There, they could see the familiar small figure of a girl. She was wearing the same uniform as them, only she had hoodie jacket under her uniform instead of the usual blouse.

"Annie? What is she doing there?" Armin asked.

On the other hand, Eren had already learned the situation, judging by four bigger men surrounding the petite blonde. He had seen it happened to Mikasa several times. They were hitting on her. Eren gulped at their bravery to approach a scary girl like Annie; just looking at her unpleasant face sent him shivers.

But as scary as she was, Annie was still a girl, and a frail one at that, judging by her petite size.

Eren had the urge to save her, only before the four men suddenly attacked her in unison and the scene happening before his eyes betrayed his imagination. With her small body, Annie easily escaped the four men's grip, creating a chance for her to kick each of their ankles hard enough for them to lose their footings. One by one, they tried to stand up only to get arm-locked by Annie, and with a single kick they ended up in a somersault pose.

The girl left the scene, barely sweating.

Amazed, Eren didn't realize that he had been holding his breath.

"Ah." Annie seemed to have noticed Eren and Armin's presence. "Close your mouth, Eren, your jaw is falling."

Flustered, Eren quickly did as he was told.

"Forget that! Annie, you're amazing! Where did you learn those cool moves?" Eren asked excitedly, eyes sparkling.

"From my dad…"

"Cool! Can you teach me—"

"I barely do a thing in class, I didn't join any club, I've never done my job as the class secretary, and I sneak off of my job as the culture festival committee, what makes you believe I'll spend my precious free time teaching you something?"

"Kuh, that's harsh…"

"But…"

At that, Eren lift up his face full of expectation.

"But if you will do my job as the committee I would reconsider it."

Eren's smile expanded. "That's a piece of cake!"

He was excited as this would be a new subject to learn. He would be sure to hide this from Mikasa or he knew what would happen. That pattern had occurred for more times than he could count. Mikasa would catch up and then she would be the one to teach him. And he didn't want that. He would train with Annie in secret and out of Mikasa's knowledge.

"Is after school alright with you? I have part-time job in the evening."

"Anytime is fine! But Annie, I would never expect you to work."

"What do you expect from someone living alone? I have to cover my living expenses." Annie muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Whoa!" Eren's eyes sparkled again and Annie slightly jerked away. "You're really amazing after all!"

"Stop making it sound grand, I just work because I need to eat."

"Still, it's cool!"

"Whatever," Annie sighed.

Eren noticed her expression changed. It was an unreadable expression that he was incapable to understand. Her eyes had a distant look as though she was reminiscing something from a long time ago; something she didn't want to remember.

"Annie?" Eren called.

"I guess that's it. See you tomorrow," she said before she left.

* * *

When Eren arrived home, Mikasa was already there, cooking dinner.

"You're cooking this early?"

"Yeah. I'm going out tonight, make sure you eat dinner."

"Going out? Where?"

"Work. Don't worry I'll try to return as soon as possible."

"What? You never worked at night before."

"I changed shift."

Eren scowled, getting suspicious. But he decided to ignore it and went to place his bag on the couch.

"The water's ready. You can take your bath, Eren."

"Oh, thanks."

Eren entered the bathtub as soon as he entered the bathroom, sighing in content afterward. In the quiet room, Eren started pondering again, about why Mikasa was summoned to the Student Council room and why she suddenly changed her work shift. Then he suddenly realized. His thought had been full of Mikasa alone all day long.

He splashed the hot bathwater on his face, refreshing himself.

He reached for the soap bottle and pumped it but nothing came out.

"Mikasa! Do we have spare soap? There isn't any left here!" he shouted for Mikasa.

"I think we have! Wait a moment!"

It didn't take long for Mikasa to suddenly barge into the bathroom without even bothering to knock. She was still wearing her apron, meaning she hadn't done with the cooking.

"Here. Give me the empty bottle."

"Ooh…—That's not it! You should at least knock before entering! We're all grown up now!"

"Is that so?" Mikasa looked over her shoulder. Eren could've sworn he saw the faintest smile on her lips. "To me, Eren is always a child…" she said before she left.

"Huh!?"

* * *

The doorbell rang not too long after Eren got out of the bathroom.

"I'll open the door!" Eren shouted.

"Um. Thanks," he heard Mikasa's reply.

Opening the door, Eren jumped back slightly when he saw who was behind. The height difference forced him to tilt her head down a bit.

It was Rivaille-_kaichou_, dressed in formal suit.

"I heard you and Ackerman are foster siblings but seeing you two living together like this, you look more like a young married couple, Jaeger." There was a chilling grimace on Rivaille's face.

"_E, eeto… _May I ask why you are here, _kaichou_?"

"I am here to fetch Ackerman."

"Huh? For wha—"

"Eren? Who is it?" Mikasa came out from the kitchen.

"Mikasa?"

"It's me, Ackerman. It is almost time and I believe your tardiness benefits no one." Rivaille said while showing his pocket watch, which showed that it was 06:45 p.m.

"Ah, forgive me. I'll get changed fast."

Mikasa trotted into her bedroom, or to be precise, her and Eren's shared bedroom. In less than five minutes, Mikasa came out dressed unusually elegant. She was dressed in a one-piece pink dress that reached her knees. She was also holding a Louis Vuitton purse which Eren never recalled to had seen even once. And lastly, the red scarf around her neck seemed out-of-place.

"I'm going, Eren. Be good."

Eren could hear Rivaille snorted at how Mikasa sounded like a mom.

Eren grabbed Mikasa's shoulder, "Wait! Mikasa, I thought you said you're going to work?"

The girl looked over her shoulder for the second time today, "This is work. I'm accompanying Rivaille_-kaichou _somewhere. I can't tell you any more. But don't worry if I did great we will have enough money to buy that game console you wanted." She slightly smiled at him.

She always did everything for him. She barely spent the money she earned for herself. She had scholarship so she didn't need to pay the school fee and she barely wanted anything normal girls would usually beg for. Most of her money was spent on him.

She was selfless.

Mikasa slowly removed Eren's hand from her shoulder and went with Rivaille.

"I'm going, Eren."

Eren slowly nodded as the door closed.

He slowly walked toward the dining room to see his dinner placed neatly on the table and slowly sat down and picked up his spoon. But he was too bothered to even eat. He couldn't even start imagining what work Mikasa was talking about. She never told him anything, and ironically, he never asked her about it before. He was being too uncaring about her.

And on top of all, Rivaille's presence just now really bothered him.

How the hell did he know of Mikasa's work while he didn't?

Eren shook his head fiercely and tried to forget about those and focused on eating dinner.

He entered a spoonful of Paella into his mouth. The taste spread inside his mouth. It tasted wonderful. He hated how Mikasa could develop this much every day. He hated how she tried her best to please him.

He hated how she never thought of herself but instead worrying about him.

He hated everything about her.

Eating another spoonful, he gritted his teeth, "I hate you, Mikasa."

* * *

Today, Mikasa stayed at the Student Council room after school again. But unlike yesterday, Eren didn't go home ahead, since he had committee work today. And not to mention, he had to make sure he did Annie's part as well.

"You work a lot today, Eren! If this is a real job and I'm your boss, I'll raise your pay!" Reiner laughed.

Today, Betholdt was also helping out. The tall guy smiled at his friend.

"Actually, Annie told me to do her work in her place or she won't teach me those cool moves." Eren laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

For some reason, both Reiner and Bertholdt stopped their track.

Eren turned around, "What's wrong?"

"Eren, what do you mean by cool moves?" Reiner asked. Cold sweat seemed to have formed on his forehead. And Bertholdt didn't look any better.

Eren had started to grow uneasy as well, "Eh? It's just the self-defense moves that I saw her use on some guys yesterday… What's wrong with that?"

Reiner and Betholdt exchanged frightened looks.

"When did she start again?" Reiner asked Bertholdt.

The taller guy shook his head, "I didn't notice at all."

"What are you guys talking about?"

Reiner faced Eren again, "Listen, Eren, I don't know how Annie agree to teach you. If you really want to, I won't be holding you back, just… you just might be able to help her. She is—"

"Hey, Eren, are you done yet?"

The three of them jumped at the voice. The subject of their talk, Annie, was standing at the end of the corridor, one hand on hip.

The blonde quickly approached them in quick pace and Reiner got away from Eren as quick.

Annie pulled Eren with her out of his will, and when she went pass Reiner, she whispered coldly, "You talk too much, Reiner…" and left.

* * *

The look on her face didn't look any different than usual, but Eren could tell that Annie was bothered by something. She seemed to be spacing out for a while now.

"Hey, how are you going to teach me anything if you're just standing there like that?"

"…" she glared at him and he jerked away in fear. "Come at me." She set her pose, her lower arms raised to head level, as though it could protect her from anything.

"What?"

"Moves are most effective when tested on yourself."

"What!?"

"Come!"

Eren groaned in protest, but it seemed he didn't have any choice left. He launched himself to Annie, and as expected, he ended up in somersault pose in less than five seconds.

"What the hell! You did it too fast I can't see a thing!"

"Of course you can't."

"Then what's the point in doing this!?"

Annie looked at the side, "To tease you."

"HUH!?"

Annie's lips pursed slightly, "Now. Let's proceed to the real training."

"I'm really getting mad, you know!?"

Annie ignored him and offered him a hand to stand up. Once he stood up, she took his left arm and wrapped it around her neck.

"A, Annie!?"

"Shut up, I'm showing you the way."

"O, okay…"

"You use your hand and push your enemy from the front and kick their ankle like this, hard. They will need time to get up and you use that short time to run away."

"Run away!?"

"Oh, you're strong so I think you don't need to run away. On the other hand, I am a frail, weak maiden so I need to."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, like anyone would believe in that bullshit."

"Alright, you can practice in on me."

"Huh? Are you sure? I don't think it's manly to hit a girl."

"Oh, what a gentleman. Gentlemen die in the hands of evil women."

"Okay! I get your point! Don't blame me later, okay?"

"Of course."

Eren did as he was taught. He tried to wrap his arm around Annie's neck but the girl had the speed of lightning. She quickly slipped off Eren's grip and kicked his ankle, making him lose his footings.

"Ouch! What the hell's that for, Annie!?"

"I said you can practice on me. I never said I will quietly let myself get into that humiliating pose by you."

"Why you…" Eren growled.

"You can practice it on someone else, maybe on people like the ones who attacked me yesterday? Many people would thank you for that."

Eren sighed in defeat. He finally realized that he could never beat this girl in an argument.

"How is it? You still want to continue this training?" she was smiling somewhat challengingly, as though she believed he would beg to stop.

"Of course! I will not stop until I can master it! I won't let Mikasa win this time!"

Annie's eyes widened. _Is this guy for real?_

Annie felt as though she could see fire flickering inside his green eyes. He endured everything for the sole purpose of defeating his so-called sister, Mikasa Ackerman. Annie suddenly realized how much this meant for him.

"You're a weird guy."

"Yeah, living with Mikasa for years has robbed my sanity."

Annie laughed softly.

That was the first time Eren had ever seen her laugh. He was a little, although only a little, fascinated by it.

* * *

Mikasa was sitting on the couch with a black dress in her hands.

Everyone had gone home and she was the only one left in the room aside from the President. While the President was checking some documents, Mikasa massaged her temple and then sighed. She was getting quite tired after only one night shift.

"Do you think you can handle the night shift, huh? I can always change back your shift if you're not doing well. Just so you know, no one's going to bring you to the hospital if you collapse."

The girl shook her head slowly, "No. There are many, many things I need to prepare. I really need the money."

"Just keep your health in check, dammit. No one's going to choose an ill bitch."

Mikasa nodded. Her grip on the black dress on her lap tightened.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**This week's question will be: What is Mikasa's so-called **_**work**_**? ;3**_

_**Anyone who can answer this question with the right answer shall be rewarded with a Mikasa plushie~ (an imaginary one, of course)**_

_**Oh well, see you again~**_


	4. Jealousy

**Phew, at last I finished this chapter! This is the longest chapter so far with word count 3,261 words excluding the Author Note! XD**

**Thank you **_**arkcess, alex, rosecchin, Seraphicpapilion, Chocobo1374, Berry9704, Ashley Silver, Yggdrasill Tales, EzioAuditoreDaFirenze1500, Dinendir, AisuRuhi, lone green leaf, Ana cii Bunny, silentux131, Wearing Clothes, Stargazer-Aika, Sunny Sonic, Toondoon, guest **_**and**_** Guest **_**for reviewing this humble fic of mine. I feel really grateful *weeps***

**And for the previous chapter's quiz, it seems most of the guesses are prostitute or hostess, eh? The only person who noticed the rating of this fic was **_**guest**_**! Congratulations for noticing it~ So prostitution is a no-no. I can give you one more time guessing her work since it's not gonna be revealed in this chapter.**

**And oh! Many people seem to base their guess on the black dress at the end of the chapter. But **_**black**_** isn't the crucial part here, instead, it's the **_**dress **_**;3**

**Enjoy the read~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

Mikasa saw a dream.

That dream was a piece of her childhood memory.

She remembered being carried on Eren's back. His back was wide and warm and provided her the feeling of security back then. She remembered him saying something with quite an angry expression and she nodded while sobbing.

She knew he wasn't angry at her but the tears just won't stop.

The tears of happiness and relief, that was.

* * *

**Chapter 4. Jealousy**

* * *

That day was one week after Mikasa started her night shift. She had begun to sleep in class a lot and she sometimes got yelled at by some teachers.

Today was no exception.

"Wake up, Mikasa! I know you're the top student but you could at least listen to me!" Hannes-_sensei_ yelled.

Mikasa quickly stood up from her seat and faced the teacher with her usual poker face. Hannes_-sensei _had known both Eren and Mikasa since their younger days and had become a fatherly figure for them, but still, at school, he couldn't allow favoritism.

Bowing, Mikasa apologized, "Forgive me, _sensei._"

"I heard you've slept in other classes as well. What might be the cause?" he asked.

Mikasa hesitated for a moment before answering, "No particular reason, _sensei. _I don't have any excuses."

Eren couldn't stand to see Mikasa getting yelled at while teachers thought she had no reason for it. Damn well she had one. She worked at night and came home in the morning. She didn't sleep a wink!

Slamming the table, Eren stood up.

"_Sensei_! Mikasa works at night and comes home in the morning so she didn't have time to sleep. Can't you let it slide by being flexible? She'll still get the top score anyway!"

"Eren!" Mikasa shouted in shock.

Hannes_-sensei _and everyone in the class looked at Mikasa with wide eyes.

"Is that true, Mikasa?" he asked.

"I…" she lowered her head. "I…"

"No, no, it's okay if you can't say it. But, Mikasa, have you gained the permission of the school? I mean, someone your age working at night. That's…"

"I… I know…"

Eren finally got a hold of the situation. He noticed why Mikasa never spoke the truth to anyone. It was not allowed to. But then again, what work did she do actually? If he recalled correctly, it was some kind of part-time job before she changed shift. She would only work for one or two hours back then. Now she had to work entire night.

_Don't tell me she actually changed her work? _Eren thought warily.

"Make sure you come with me to the Principal's room after this, Mikasa. I'll have to make sure you had the permission."

"Y, yes…" Mikasa slowly sat down again.

After class, Mikasa went with Hannes_-sensei._

In the class, everyone started to talk about Mikasa. Most of them believed that Mikasa might be doing prostitution or something of the likes.

"Oh God, don't tell me Mikasa is…"

"N, no! Don't say anything yet, Reiner! We didn't know anything yet!" Christa tried to defend Mikasa.

"That's right, Reiner. You shouldn't judge anything too fast." Bertholdt added.

"Yeah. Mikasa's a good girl, she won't do that." Ymir said.

"I won't forgive anyone who insults Mikasa! She must have her own circumstances!" Jean shouted.

Eren listened to their conversation and was slightly surprised at how they seemed to believe more in Mikasa herself even while the situation suggested otherwise. But what bothered him the most was… he didn't believe in Mikasa as much as they did.

What he knew was more than anyone. He knew that Mikasa was out with Rivaille every night. What they were doing every night, he couldn't even start imagining it.

"Guys…!"

It was Sasha, who seemed to be looking very nervous for some reasons.

"I, I think I know something about Mikasa' work…" she stated.

"O, oi! We agreed not to tell them, right!?" Connie elbowed the girl.

"B, but! Everyone in the class already find out, right?"

"What exactly are you two trying to say?" Reiner pushed.

After a small arguing, the two finally decided to tell.

"Last week, after we finished our club activity, we accidentally saw Mikasa and the President when we walked pass the Student Council room. We overhead their talk and… Connie, you continue!" Sasha suddenly got panicked.

"EH!? _You _continue! I told you not to tell! Take responsibility, dammit!"

"Uuh…" Sasha pouted. "O-okay, I'll continue… we heard them talk about no one's going to bring Mikasa to the hospital if she collapse or something about no one will choose an ill bitch or something…"

Everyone went silent for a while.

"H, hospital!?" Christa jumped.

"Collapse!?" Ymir added.

"Are we talking about literal bitch here!?" Jean began to panic as well.

"We thought so, too… I mean, we heard Mikasa said something about she needs the money or something…" Connie muttered.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jean slapped his forehead.

* * *

Both Mikasa and Rivaille were walking down the corridor.

"I apologize for the trouble I just caused, _kaichou._" Mikasa lowered her head apologetically.

"Damn well you do. Pull me into another trouble and I'll fire you, Ackerman."

Mikasa jolted in shock, "No! Anything but that—"

Quickly, Rivaille put a finger on her lips, hushing her. "Say no more, Ackerman. Just be grateful that I am the President here or you'll get into a deeper trouble. Now remember. One more trouble and you lose your work. Understood?" and then he withdrew his hand then wiped it with his handkerchief.

Mikasa quickly nodded.

On their way to Mikasa's class, Rivaille occasionally glanced at Mikasa.

"Is there something wrong with my face, _kaichou_?" she decided to ask.

"I was wondering if you always keep that stoic expression in front of anyone. You put it at work, too. Didn't anyone complain or something?"

"Fortunately, no one."

"Oh well, I guess they did choose you _because of _your expression."

"That might be the case."

"What if they ask you to smile?"

Mikasa went silent for a while, then her lips pursed slightly, shocking Rivaille in process. "I can smile…" she said.

Her smile was faint, but Rivaille could sense the happiness in it.

"…if I imagine Eren's smiling face…"

* * *

On lunch break, Eren ate with Mikasa and Armin as usual, arranging their tables beforehand.

"Oh, Mikasa, I'm just glad the problem's over!" Armin exclaimed.

"Me too," Mikasa said. Then she looked at Eren who was putting aside cubic pieces of pumpkins from his lunch. "Eren, don't be picky, eat the pumpkins too." She said as she used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of pumpkin and put it into Eren's mouth.

After gulping it down, Eren yelled, "Mikasa! Stop treating me like a child! This is school, for Pete's sake! I can eat by myself!"

"Sorry…"

Then, they ate while chatting casually. It was before Ymir and Christa suddenly approached them.

"Hey Eren, Mikasa, Armin! Guess what? Through Christa's dad's connection, we can go to this certain karaoke box for free. Wanna go after school? I've invited several of our friends." Ymir snickered while Christa nodded beside her.

"I'll go if Eren and Mikasa go." Armin smiled.

"I'll go if Eren go." Mikasa stated firmly.

"You two are such a pain!" Eren shouted. Then he tapped his chin and browsed his memories. "Hmm… I don't have committee work today…" but he was suddenly reminded of his training with Annie. He took a look at Annie' seat, which was the second table of the first row near the windows, she seemed to be looking outside.

"Hey, did you invite Annie too?" he asked Ymir.

At the mentioning of Annie's name, Mikasa glanced at Eren.

"Eh? Well… You know Annie, right? She turned me down the second I tried to ask her."

"Okay. I'll ask her in your stead. If she's going, I'll go."

Ymir blinked for a while before smirking, "Hee? What's this? Eren, you got something for Annie now? Mikasa's looking all jealous, you know?" she teased.

"Huh?" Eren then turned to face Mikasa only to meet her sulking expression. "!?"

"Eren, why Annie? Why is it you'll only go if she's going?" she qustioned.

"Eh? Well…" _Shit, I can't let Mikasa know about this or all my effort until now will be in vain! Gotta think of something smart! _"I mean, she's always so distant from us, right? Maybe it's because we never tried hard enough to approach her."

Ymir snorted, "Who are you, another Reiner?"

Eren came to think of it, Reiner had done many things in order to help Annie blend with the class but it never worked. As though she was putting more and more invisible walls around her, she shut herself permanently, out of anyone's reach. What Eren mentioned just now was merely an excuse to escape from the situation so he didn't have any feelings behind it… but what about Reiner? Was he really sincere about what he was doing? Did he really do it for Annie's sake?

Somehow the rumors going around suddenly made sense. Some people said that Reiner had feelings for Annie.

"_**Listen, Eren, I don't know how Annie agree to teach you. If you really want to, I won't be holding you back, just… you just might be able to help her. She is**__**—**__**"**_

"_**You talk too much, Reiner…"**_

Was there something between them that was kept behind the scenes?

"Well, I'm surprised you care that much about Annie. Now I feel like asking her again, too. Let's ask her together, then." Ymir smiled at Christa and the blonde nodded while smiling too.

"Annie is a good girl. It's a waste if she didn't come."

The three of them went to ask Annie again. Not like they didn't expect this, though. She turned them down in a flash.

"I thought I said no already."

"Come on, Annie. Just one hour is fine. Okay?" Ymir pleaded.

"Yes, Annie. Don't you want to hang out with us outside of school sometimes?" Christa convinced.

"No is no. I've got work. Just get lost."

Eren spoke up, "I'll let you practice your favorite move on me, how's that?"

Annie looked at him almost instantly. Then her lips formed a smirk which Ymir and Christa had never seen before. "You mean you'll willingly become my sandbag?"

"Yeah! No problem! Only if you come to the karaoke at the minimum of one hour," Eren's lips formed a similar smirk.

The blonde stood up from her seat, suddenly looking all demonic. "No problem. No problem at all. In fact, I can even cancel my work for it. You know how I love to kick, right? It relieves my stress."

"Ooh! Of course I know!" Eren grinned but the cold sweat trailing down his forehead betrayed his expression.

Ymir and Christa sweatdropped at the two's smirking competition.

After school, they went to the karaoke by foot. The ones going were Christa, Ymir, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Jean, Marco, Connie and Sasha. They arrived to a surprisingly-fancy karaoke place. It had billiards games, mini-bar, and many more.

"H-hey, Christa… Are you sure we can get in for free? I mean, this place looks high-class and I'm sure it's gonna be expensive or something…" Eren commented.

"Eh? I don't know. My dad said got it free for us through connection." Christa smiled.

"Holy crap, was Christa always this rich?" Connie whispered to Sasha.

"It seems so! I'm suddenly getting nervous! Auuh…"

After Christa got the room number they went to the supposedly-reserved room. It was located at the end of the corridor and it looked a little isolated. They began to doubt if that room was any good at all but when they opened the door it said otherwise. The room was huge and could fit around thirty people at most and their number wasn't even half of it.

They went silent for a while before Jean suddenly commented.

"Hey, is it for real? Isn't this, like, a VIP room or something?"

"I don't know, my dad did the reservation…" Christa looked indifferent.

Connie suddenly jumped onto the couch. "Ouch! It's not so soft!" he commented.

"Eh? Where, where? Lemme try!" Sasha jumped, following him. Then she laughed, "Yeah it's not so soft!"

"Stop acting so autistic. This is public place, you retarded couple!" Jean scolded.

"Come on, Jean, they're just playing…" Marco smiled nervously.

"Eren, where do you want to sit?" Mikasa asked.

"It's not your problem, stop sticking into me every time!" Eren ran.

"Whoa, look! There's even a private restroom here!" Armin said as he opened a door.

"Oi, check this out! There are so many songs here! Which one should I sing first?" Reiner said as he looked at the song book, followed by Bertholdt.

Annie called for the waiter, "I want a glass of mango smoothies. Be quick."

"Yes, ma'am."

Christa and Ymir sweatdropped at the scene before them. All of their friends acted like this was the first time they went to a karaoke. Certainly, the place was not your everyday karaoke box, but their reactions were exaggerating.

After five minutes of adapting to the place, they finally choose the songs.

First were Ymir and Christa who sang _The Whole New World._

While the two best friends were singing, Reiner moved to the seat beside Eren, which was currently empty since Mikasa moved near Annie to _interrogate _her and Armin was discussing with Jean and Marco about what song they would sing. Betholdt trailed behind Reiner as usual.

"Hey, Eren, you still train with Annie?" the blond asked.

"Eh? Yeah, I still do. What's with that?" Eren said, putting aside his cola.

Reiner chuckled then shifted his attention to the blonde across his seat. In his stead, Betholdt talked to Eren. "Is she still harsh as always? I'm sure she said she'll train you and then you ended up as her sandbag instead." The tall guy smiled.

"Yeah…" Eren chuckled nervously. "But how did you know that? You sound like you've known her for a long time."

Reiner spoke up, "Bert and I studied martial arts from Annie's dad when we were brats, you see. But only for a short while, though. She was such a cute and honest girl back then, right Bert?" he laughed.

"Eh!? For real!?" Eren gasped.

"Eh…? I think she wasn't any different from now…" Bertholdt smiled nervously then he suddenly shrank, "She was violent and cold, not that different from now…"

"Which one of you am I supposed to believe?" Eren deadpanned.

Reiner's expression changed, "But there's one thing about her that never changed…" he looked at Annie again. "…she still likes to run away."

"Well, yeah, I can't deny that. She said that a couple of times already. Running away is what she's good at."

"Since you spend a lot of time with her now I'm sure you've realized, Eren. That girl… even when you think you've properly held her in your arms, she'll disappear without you noticing it…"

Eren knew what he was implying. He had experienced it for more times than he could count. In their trainings, when he was sure he had held her powerful enough, she could still escape and the next second he would be lying on the ground in somersault pose.

"That's why I always make sure that she's in my field of vision while we're at school. Who knows if she suddenly disappeared and never come back?" Reiner narrowed his eyes, "That's my greatest fear…"

"Eh? Why do you care so much? I mean, I know you've known her since you're young, but still…"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Reiner, don't!" Bertholdt tried to stop his friend.

"That's because—"

"Eren! Let's sing together!" Armin said while pulling Eren to the front and for some reason, Bertholdt looked relieved.

* * *

Annie rubbed her hands in attempt to warm herself.

She was sitting at the straiway because she had decided to get out of the room since the air conditioner was too cold inside she was freezing. Not to mention she didn't really move at all, unlike the others, so the coldness really got her.

Reiner had been pestering her a lot at the karaoke room, forcing her to sing with him. Singing with Mikasa and Sasha was already more than enough for her. Singing made her sick.

"Annie? You don't want to get inside?"

She turned around to find Eren.

"The temperature was killing me."

Eren laughed and rubbed his hands together too, it seemed he was also cold. He then took a seat beside her. "Reiner really wants to sing with you, you know?"

"Tell him to drop dead already. I'm not singing another song."

Eren laughed again, "Sasha forced you and Mikasa to sing with her, right? That was so hilarious!"

"Don't remind me again."

They went silent for a while as Eren warmed himself.

"Hey, Annie, I heard from Reiner and Betholdt that you guys go way back?"

Annie merely nodded.

"That means you've been going to the same school ever since?"

Annie nodded again.

"You three are such good friends, huh?"

"Like you're one to talk. It's the same as you with Mikasa and Armin, isn't it? You three always stick together."

"Well, Mikasa is my sister despite everything. And I've known Armin for an even longer time. We're childhood friends of course we'll stick together."

Annie closed her eyes serenely, "Maybe that's what Reiner and Betholdt think. They want us to be together like the old time. But it's impossible now… I've changed. I've changed too much to stay with them. I just hope they could understand." She opened her eyes again and somehow her blue eyes looked lonesome. "I prefer to be alone…"

"But why, Annie? Can't you just at least hang out with them from time to time? I mean you don't need to be like me with Mikasa and Armin, but at least you shouldn't act so cold to them, especially Reiner."

"He is the main problem. Bertholdt only follows him everywhere. Reiner's the one who keep tracking me down all this time. He's the one who decided to go to the same school as me."

"Hey, Annie… I overheard some people in the class talking about this, but… you like Reiner or something?" Eren questioned.

Annie went silent before closing her eyes again, "_Like _is taking it too far. I don't hate him…" then she looked at Eren from the corner of her eyes, "I don't hate you too…"

"E, eh? Thank you?"

Annie nodded before facing Eren and looked him in the eyes. "If you have the chance, please tell him that I'm okay now so he doesn't need to always feel guilty." Her blue eyes looked distant, "He doesn't need to be nice to me out of guilt…"

The blonde then stood up and descended the stairs.

"Eh? What do you mean—Annie, where are you going?"

"Work."

"But I thought you're going to cancel your work?"

"I changed my mind. It's okay, right? I've stayed for an hour anyway."

"W-well, you did keep your promise, but…"

"See you tomorrow." Annie waved goodbye and disappeared from his sight.

* * *

Mikasa went home ahead of Eren, saying that she would have to cook dinner first since she would go to work on seven. Eren went home an hour later, but once he opened the door, what he saw was something shocking.

His foster sister was lying unconscious on the floor.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**How is it? You're allowed to punch me if this chapter is crappy… (Shit, gonna receive lotsa critical punches)**_

_**Anyway, the question for this chapter is… hmm… what should I ask?**_

_**I know! I'm gonna ask: What is Reiner and Annie's hidden issue? (I doubt anyone can answer this but I'm asking it anyway)**_

_**See you again~! *heart***_


	5. Shining Star

**We meet again! I'm gonna tell you that I was having a very hard time writing this chapter so I hope it's good enough by now. I can't count how many times I erase and re-write it.**

**Thank you **_**hiyomi, Seraphicpapilion, Twin Judge of Gemini, guest, alex, Kim20, WhiteMoonofDeath, Guest, Stargazer-Aika, AisuRuhi, Shinra-ex-SOLDIER, Guest25, Enigma Infinite, Silentux131, Dinendir, It's me Unyak, eyesonbluefire, Nancy Haibara, Ayexia, **_**and**_** 3HaH3 **_**for reviewing my fic. I love you all *heart***

**Let me announce the people who gave the right answer for the previous chapter's question "What is Annie and Reiner's hidden issue?" **

**Congratulations, **_**alex **_**and **_**Shinra-ex-SOLDIER**_**! Your answers are the closest to the truth! Lemme give you guys each a cyber Annie plushie~**

**Okay now, let's proceed to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

One hit followed by another. In the cold and dim room, all he could feel was his stinging cheeks. Despite being hit until he fell on his knees, he pushed himself to stand up once again. Eyeing the much older man before him in a challenging manner, he silently said that he was afraid of nothing.

"What can a brat like you do? I feed you, I clothe you, I raised you… what can you do by yourself?" his face grew even more dreaful than it already was.

His son still glared at him daringly.

"I will show you. I don't need your money. I will live with my own effort, Father."

"Foolish little Rivaille." His brows knitted. "I'll give you three years, boy. If you can raise a star and bring her to my studio, I shall recognize you. "

"I will."

* * *

**Chapter 5. Shining Star**

* * *

"…_that's about it, kaichou. I'm really sorry but Mikasa can't work tonight."_

"Aah… Tell Ackerman to eat good food and recover properly and hurry come back to work." Rivaille meant it to sound harsh but it seemed it didn't sound that way.

"_I will. Now would you excuse me?" _And Eren hung up the phone.

Rivaille returned the phone to its place and let out a rough sigh. Guess he wouldn't be able to introduce Mikasa to a new workplace tonight. He quickly made a call to cancel their appointment and went to the living room, refreshing himself by watching TV.

"Geh!Rivaille, you're home!? I thought you're gonna take Mikasa to a new place tonight?"

Rivaille turned his head and found Hanji standing in the doorway, clad in towel. Undoubtedly, she was just out from bath recently since water was dripping from all over her. The water dripping for her was _all over _the floor.

"Hanji! I told you to not wet the floor! Be sure to wipe the damn floor, dammit! So this is what you do when I'm not home?!"

"Aww, you don't have to sound so mean. I forgot to bring my underwear to the bathroom, you see. I promise I'll wipe the floor once I'm properly dressed!" she winked.

"What did we promise when we decided to share this apartment?" Rivaille demanded.

"Err… Stay Clean. Keep Quiet. Study Happily!"

"Diligently!" Rivaille corrected.

"Ah, sorry…"

Hanji made her way to her room and Rivaille sighed. It was unfortunate that Irvin wasn't home yet. No one could help him scold Hanji.

Just as Rivaille was about to prepare dinner, his phone received another call.

* * *

Every student of class 1-04 was busy cleaning the class here and there. The reason was because by the morrow, Rivaille_-kaichou_, who was famous of being a clean-freak, would be inspecting each class. The losing class would be given a divine punishment, namely toilet-cleaning for a month.

"Eh? You're going home, Eren?" Reiner asked when he saw Eren began keeping his books.

The green-eyed boy nodded, "I'm sorry but I can't join the group cleaning today. I have to quickly visit Mikasa, you see."

"Oh man… Give her my regards, okay?" Reiner said. "I can't believe Mikasa overworked herself to that state…"

"Me too… I can't believe she's that stupid." Eren picked his bag up and bid goodbye to Reiner.

Before going to the hospital, Eren went to the grass field where he usually trained with Annie. There, he saw her small figure sitting on one of the boulders. Her expression was stoic and hard to make out, but he knew she wasn't in a foul mood.

"—Annie!" Eren called as he ran toward her.

She brought her face up and glanced at him.

"Annie, we're not training today, okay? I have to take care of Mikasa at the hospital. Wanna tag along?" Eren offered.

_He isn't very tactful_, Annie said in mind. "Why do I have to go?"

"Why?" Eren echoed. "I mean, Mikasa's your classmate, right? What's wrong with paying her a hospital visit?" he looked quizzical.

Annie still looked hesitant.

Eren grinned and took her hand before pulling her with him, "Come on."

At first, Annie was wide-eyed. But eventually she loosened up.

_I can't say no to that smile…_

* * *

_It was spring, and new students came flooding in like waves. Spring marked the beginning of the school year, and it meant even more to freshmen. Entrance ceremony was one place where they began everything._

_That day, the Student Council President gave his speech._

_After the speech was over, Hanji quickly approached the shorter guy, "How is it, Rivaille~? Saw someone interesting in the midst of freshmen?" she asked while grinning like some pervert._

"_No one interesting. Hanji, I don't classify people, they're all the same." Rivaille glared._

"_Eh~? But you need the perfect person for your work, right? If you can't find anyone by the end of the month they won't give you the work, you know? I was being so nice and yet you dismiss me like a bug!" Hanji pouted._

_Rivaille sighed, "Well, I didn't find anyone interesting, but I found someone weird."_

"_What? Who, who?"_

"_A black-haired girl, I feel something amiss about her face but I can't tell what it is."_

"_A-ha! You must be talking about Mikasa Ackerman! She is half-Asian so her face is quite Oriental, you see! Hwahaha! You have good eyes, Rivaille! She is definitely a rare diamond! Her height is 170cm so she's perfect! If we can get her to work with us I'm 100% sure we can get that work!"_

_Overjoyed, Hanji slapped Rivaille's back a couple of times._

* * *

What he could hear in the room was the noise of the IV drop attached to her. She was sleeping on the white bed, looking peaceful like a doll. He suddenly had the urge to touch her delicate, porcelain-like face. Her long eyelashes were surreal. She was perfect. And that was the reason he chose her.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.

"…Uh… Huh? _Kaichou_?" was the first thing she said.

"How do you feel, Ackerman?"

"I'm fine…"

"I have news for you. Good one and bad one. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Mikasa blinked. She just woke up and was suddenly faced with this kind of question. "…Bad one…" she breathed.

"Alright. I've cancelled your night shift. From now on you will work after school, like before. Even if we continue the night shift you will only trouble me."

The girl's eyes widened to their extent. She suddenly rose from her position, "But—The pay—"

"Shush. I haven't told you the good news, have I?"

"Whatever the good news is, it's not going to help me—"

"They chose you."

Mikasa went silent, "…Eh?"

Whether unconsciously or not, Rivaille's lips pursed upward slightly and Mikasa was taken aback. "I'm proud of you, Ackerman."

"I… Really…? I did it…?"

The older guy nodded, "I'm glad I chose you that time. Your hardwork is paid off."

For some reason, hot tears began to flow down her cheeks. She lowered her head to hide her shameful state and put a palm on her mouth to stop herself from whimpering. Her small shoulders shivered ever so slightly.

Rivaille took her into his arms and soothe her.

That moment, there was a creaking sound coming from the door. And the next was the noise of shopping bag being dropped on the floor. Both Rivaille and Mikasa quickly turned to the source of the noise only to find Eren, gaping like a goldfish, while beside him, Annie was looking a bit surprised.

"Eren—"

"Put your hands off my sister, you wolf in sheep's clothing!" Eren shouted and quickly launched himself at Rivaille. As if on cue, Rivaille quickly released Mikasa and was able to dodge Eren's punch on time.

"Eren! This is a misunderstanding! You see, Rivaille_-kaichou _was just—"

"Be quiet, Mikasa! You've been deluded by this man! I've had my suspicion but this exceeds it!"

"Calm down, Jaeger. I did nothing."

"Lies!"

"Eren!"

A scary-looking nurse suddenly barged into the room, "CLAM UP, ALL OF YOU! THIS IS A HOSPITAL!"

"We're sorry…"

* * *

After all the commotion, Rivaille decided to leave.

"See you around, Ackerman. Inform me once you're discharged."

Mikasa bowed politely at him as he left. She looked at Eren who was sitting beside her, peeling apples. Then she looked at Annie who was sitting on the couch like quietly.

"Eren, why is Annie here?"

"I asked her to come. What's with it?"

"Why her of all people? Don't tell me what everyone said was true? You really like her—hmpf!"

Before she knew it, Eren had shoved an apple into her mouth.

"I cut it into rabbit apples. You like rabbits, right? Hurry up and get better, I'll go with you to the pet shop next time you want to go."

Mikasa blinked in surprise.

But then again, Eren was always much kinder whenever she was sick. She remembered being selfish numerous times in the past; wanting to stay sick forever so that he would be this kind to her forever.

Slowly, Mikasa smiled.

"It's a promise, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Eren?"

"What?"

"Feed me."

"Huh!? Can't you do that by yourself? I mean, you're not even _that _sick!"

"They forbad me to do any strenuous activity."

"You call this strenuous!?"

Mikasa lowered her head and wore a sad expression. Eren went soft and groaned.

"Alright! Just this once, okay?"

The girl nodded happily.

On the other hand, Annie, who did nothing but watching all this time, began to feel something weird. It was like she had experienced something like that before. She remembered it being hard when she was sick while she's living alone. But then Reiner and Betholdt would pay a visit and take care of her until she got better.

Eren stood up from his seat after feeding Mikasa.

"I'm going to get some drink."

"Okay."

"I'm going too, Eren." Annie said. Mikasa glared at her, completely suspicious, but Annie ignored her and proceeded to follow the guy.

Eren and Annie went to the drink machine and bought some.

"Hey, Eren. Some time ago, you mentioned that you hate Mikasa, don't you?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Are you sure it's not the other way around?"

Eren's brows knitted, "Huh? What are you even talking about?"

"I was watching you. You look… how do I say it? Happy? You were happy when she relied on you. Are you sure you're not just lonely because she's too competent?"

"Eh…? That's weird. Now that you mention it, I feel like you're right."

"Did you never think about it until now?"

"No," Eren opened his canned coffee and gulped it down. Then he stared at the empty can while reminiscing about the past. "Do you want to hear me out, Annie?"

"I don't have anything to do. Feel free to talk."

"You see, Annie… When Mikasa first came to our house, she was like… so shy and scared of everything. That time round, I figured that I have to act as an older brother for her and in the end she relied on me a lot. But then again, I hate to admit this but my personality is kinda difficult, right? I often act before thinking it first. And before I knew it, Mikasa had changed. It's like she doesn't need me around anymore…" Eren muttered.

"So, for short, you want to be an older brother again?"

"N-no! Don't make it sound like I have some strange fetish! I just want her to stop being a genius at everything. I want to be useful to her. I have this goddamned pride, you know!"

Nodding, Annie smiled slightly. Eren was a weird guy, she noted.

* * *

"I'm going home first, Eren. My shift starts soon." Annie said as she picked up her bag.

"Okay. Thanks for coming, Annie."

Annie nodded before looking at the sleeping Mikasa. Then she smirked, "Do your best, _onii-chan_." She said half-monotonously as she made her way to the door.

Flustered, Eren shouted, "Annie!"

The blonde chuckled softly before exiting the room.

Once she stepped out of the room, she saw someone she didn't want to see. A man was standing before her, smiling at her as though he was happy for her. She groaned and ignored him as she made her way to the elevator.

"You look happy, Annie. Something happened?" Reiner asked, trailing Annie from behind.

"…" Annie kept on walking quietly.

"Come on, Annie, say something."

_Silence._

"Annie…"

_Silence._

"Annie!"

The blonde did her best to ignore him, but as she did so, it only increased his aggressiveness. He stopped her by pulling her shoulder and spun her so that she was facing him.

"What are you doing? Release me now. You know someone as weak as me can't do anything under your grip, Reiner." She said coldly as she glared at him.

Reiner's brows knitted sadly, "Annie… I know I've said this lotsa times already, but… I'm sorry. I really mean it. Please forgive me. It was my fault your dad died…" his dark eyes stared at her blue ones deeply.

On the other hand, Annie's expression turned even darker. "You're apologizing again…" her voice was cold and chilling. She brushed his hands off and looked at him with her cold eyes, "Stop it… Just… stop it… I hate it…"

"But, Annie—I—" Reiner stopped whe he felt his stinging sensation on his left cheek.

"Just stop this nonsense already, Reiner."

"Annie…"

Annie spun and made her way to the elevator once again; this time, not followed by Reiner.

* * *

White stretched down wherever he laid his eyes upon. He watched as the crews began sorting out the equipment. Numerous C-stands were grouped on the right, softboxes on the left. The place was well-managed, as he expected from a photoshoot studio owned by his Father. There, under the light of the studio, he saw the face he hadn't seen for years.

The middle-aged man approached him with a rare smile on his face.

"I heard your girl was chosen in the last test, Rivaille?" the man asked in a hoarse voice.

Rivaille nodded dutifully.

"My men informed me that she was half-Asian? Where did you find yourself such a rare woman, Rivaille? You have grown into a fine man after three years. I am proud of you."

"Yes, Father. However, most of the credits should be given to her, to Mikasa Ackerman."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"I must say that she is indeed a genius. You might have given me three years time to bring you a star, but I only met her half a year ago."

Wide-eyed, the man gasped. "That's remarkable! She is an exceptional talent!"

"Yes, she is."

"Bring her to me as soon as possible! I shall make sure she is raised by the professionals from now on!" the man declared in delight.

Again, Rivaille nodded.

* * *

"_After some investigations, I discovered that Mikasa Ackerman grew up with her two childhood friends, Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlet. Apparently this Eren Jaeger boy is Mikasa's foster brother and they had been living together for six years and are now currently living alone without guardians. And I also discovered that they lost their mother five years ago and their father also disappeared ever since. And, this may sound evil but if she refuses to accept our offer we might as well mention Eren's name in the conversation and I'm sure she'll agree! This is just my idea, though~"_

"_Why is it we have to mention Eren Jaeger's name?" Irvin questioned._

"_You see, from what I see, Eren is the only family Mikasa have left and she's a little, no, very, overprotective of him. There, we can make use of her overprotectiveness for our benefits!"_

"_Sometimes you do speak smart things, Hanji. I'm impressed," Rivaille half-heartedly clapped his hands._

"_Fufu! I didn't become the Student Council's secretary for nothing!" she puffed her chest proudly._

_Rivaille ignored her and took a glimpse at the papers in his hand. It was papers of Mikasa Ackerman's date which she herself filled when entering this high school. Looking at the picture of Mikasa attached on the upper side of the paper, he began to think that her face was, in fact, weird. He had never seen an Oriental before. He thought they had gone extinct decades ago._

_But then again, Mikasa's face was different from anyone he had ever seen. Her face gave off this foreign yet familiar feeling. Not only because she was half Asian. There was something more to it than that._

_She looked like him._

_The face of someone who had gotten used to being called a__** genius**__._

_And then he remembered. Mikasa was called to give a speech as the student who got the highest score in the entrance exam._

_She was another genius in the school._

* * *

Done with the conversation with his Father, Rivaille wandered around the night streets. Pondering as he walked, he didn't realize that he had stopped in front of a restaurant, namely McDonald's.

Standing in front of the shop, his lips suddenly formed a faint but visible smile.

He recalled that time half a year ago; his attempts to scout Mikasa.

That time, Mikasa was already working part-time here in McDonald's. Wanting to gain her attention, he went here on her shift almost every day. But she didn't seem to pay too much attention to the customers after all; not service-wise, but personally. And then, that day, something different happened.

"Mister, you always come here at this hour, and alone. Do you not have friends to hang out with?" she asked with her usual stoic expression.

_Damn this girl. Did she pay attention at all in the opening ceremony? Didn't she know that I'm the Student Council President in her school? _Rivaille whined in his mind, but his action betrayed his thought. "Why don't you hang out with me, then?"

"Roger."

"Wait, what?"

She suddenly called for another person to replace her and went to the back to change her clothes back to her school uniform. Rivaille, being too confused to speak, stood awkwardly at the queue. When Mikasa finally came out from the changing room, she told Rivaille to sit where he liked.

He did as she told him and took a seat near the window, Mikasa sat across him at the same table.

"Hey, are you for real? Won't you get fired for this?" Rivaille asked carefully.

"Giving the customers what they want is the top priority in our shop, mister. Now, please talk like we are friends."

"Is your head okay? How the hell am I supposed to talk to you like I know you?"

"Don't hold back, mister, you can talk about anything you like." Mikasa said confidently, as though she was sure she could follow whatever topic he was going to talk about.

Then it suddenly hit him. At first, he thought she was only a normal clerk who couldn't even memorize the customers' face but he was utterly wrong. She was more attentive and considerate than anyone in the shop. She made this different face than when she was standing as a cashier, a much softer expression. She looked as though she would listen to anything.

"Alright, let's begin with your name…" Rivaille played ignorance.

"My name is Mikasa Ackerman, mister."

"Don't call me mister. My name is Rivaille."

Mikasa tilted her head, "Only Rivaille?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Okay. Let's be friendly and call each other with names."

"Do you have no shame at all?"

"Customer's need is the top priority!" she repeated her motto.

"Alright. Say, Mikasa. Are you interested in modeling?"

"Modeling? I can't say I never thought of doing it. You can say I'm a little curious about how it works…"

Rivaille took it as a chance for him to scout her. However, not wanting to move on too quick, he decided to save it for the last. "What school are you from?"

"I'm a freshman at Shingeki High."

Once again, Rivaille took this as a chance. "I am also from that school."

She looked a little surprised, "Oh, really?"

_Dammit! This girl really didn't pay attention at the opening ceremony!_ Rivaille mentally shouted, but he managed to answer calmly, "Yes. I'm a third year."

"A _senpai_?"

From there on, their conversation progressed deeper and deeper. Mikasa still avoided talking about anything too private, but Rivaille could feel that she was trying to be open to him. And what she mainly talked about would be: her cute little adoptive brother, Eren Jaeger.

However, despite everything, he dare said that this girl was certainly a genius even at her simple part-time job.

He put his hopes up for her…

…she will someday become a shining star.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**Please don't kill me… I was really depressed when writing this so it's not as good as you'd expect… *sob***_

_**I don't know what do ask this week… hmmm… I don't think there's anything to be asked so I'll just say something about the next chapter. I plan to reveal Annie's past in the next chapter so stay tuned :3**_

_**See you next week~**_


	6. Lone Wolf

**Firstly, I would like to make another shameful declaration. I wanted to confess that I haven't read the manga of Shingeki no Kyojin until recently. And when I said recently, I mean like two days ago. Yeah, I know. Am I seriously a fan? I would say, yes, of course I am! I just hope I didn't get the personality wrong for each character up until now. If I did get them wrong, though, I apologize. Up until recently, I based my opinion about their personality from anime and fanarts. Moushiwake arimasen deshita!**

**Okay, enough of me being wishy-washy. Thank you **_**Miwokgirl101, hamxham, Seraphicpapilion, AisuRuhi, ca99oline, Nancy Haibara, silentux131, Dinendir, Kim20, MissingLink01, hiyomi, Guest **_**(onii-chan :3), **_**arkcess, Ayexia, Reichan25, alex **_**and Guest for reviewing my fic! Keep them coming~!**

**By the way, please read my friend's ErenXMikasa fic, **_**Hopeless Love **_**by **_**Nancy Haibara**_**! I promise it's good! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

That day, it was raining hard, as though the world was reflecting her sadness.

She looked up at the gray clouds, ignoring every drop of water falling relentlessly on her face. Her blue eyes were dead, and her blonde hair was soaked by the rain. She wished she could stay like this forever. She wished she didn't have to look back anymore.

The people there had started to whisper.

"_Poor girl… she lost her only family in this age…"_

"_Oh my, who would take care of her from now on?"_

"_This happens a lot, right? She'll be eventually brought to an orphanage."_

"_Yeah, that's for the best."_

She tried her best to ignore those unwanted comments and stayed quiet.

Two boys her age approached her, both of them removing their jackets and covered her head with them, preventing the raindrops from falling on her.

"Annie, are you alright?" one of them asked. He sounded gravely concerned.

She slowly nodded.

The other boy seemed to be hesitating. He looked as though he was afraid she would crumble just because of a word from him. But he decided to say it after all. "I'm really sorry, Annie…"

She ignored him. And there was a long pause before she spoke up, "I…"

The two boys quickly listened to her.

"I'm leaving the world of martial arts…"

* * *

**Chap 6. Lone Wolf**

* * *

Everyone stood.

Tense and nervous, none of them dared to even move a finger. Today was no ordinary day. Today was _the _Hygiene Inspection Day. This was the day where the Student Council President, Rivaille-_kaichou_, performed his favorite duty of checking _and _criticizing each class' work.

When inspecting the windows, Rivaille made a low sound and the class flinched in unison.

"This class is quite attentive toward this part of the window. Impressive, I might say."

At that, the class let out a sigh of relief.

After ten minutes of heavy atmosphere, the class could finally inhale the air normally again. Rivaille left the class after informing them that the result would be out in two days.

"Goddammit! That was nerve-wrecking!" Reiner commented once he was sure the president was out of sight.

"I couldn't breathe!" Jean groaned.

"Yeah, me too!" Connie added. Cold sweats were still all around his face.

At the back of the class, Sasha was wailing in Mikasa's arm, stating how she was scared shitless just a moment ago. On the other hand, the stoic girl only stroked the potato girl's back to calm her down. "There, there…" she muttered.

Mikasa was just discharged from the hospital this morning and out of her strong insistence, she attended school.

"The President is kinda scary, isn't he, Eren?" Armin smiled nervously at Eren.

"Yeah…" Eren answered while spacing out. His mind was still full of something he saw yesterday at the hospital. The day before, not long after Annie left, he went to follow her again to say that he won't be training again today. But he accidentally saw Reiner and Annie's argument. He heard everything including the one about Reiner being responsible for Annie's Father's death.

Maybe that was why Reiner always followed Annie and cared for her. It was to live down his sin.

"…ren… Eren!"

Eren snapped and faced Armin. "Wh-what?" he asked.

"Were you daydreaming?" the blond asked in worry.

"Eh? No, I was just thinking about things."

"What things?"

"Just things."

From the other side of the class, Mikasa looked intently at Eren, noticing his awkward behavior.

* * *

After school, most of them stayed in the class to have a meeting about the festival. They agreed on the drawing system to decide on who's going to wear maid outfits and who's going to wear mascot costume. And under some people's suggestion, they added two 'butlers' into the box just to make things interesting.

This was pretty much what's going on in the guys' mind:

'_I have to get that bulter outfit even if it kills me!' _by Reiner

'_I don't care if I can get the bulter one as long as it's not maid! Have to make sure Mikasa gets the maid one!' _by Jean.

'_Butler! Butler! Butler!' _by Connie.

'_I have to avoid the maid one…' _by Marco.

'_I hope Reiner gets the maid one…' _by Bertholdt.

'_I'm not letting Mikasa get what she wants! I am _so _not going to be a maid!' _by Eren.

'_Please don't let me be a maid!' _by Armin.

As they all already had their own goals and were arranging plans in their head while laughing dangerously, Annie took over Reiner's place and read the papers he had prepared beforehand. Despite everything, she was the class secretary after all. She calmly instructed the girls to draw from the box.

"What about the boys, Annie?" Christa asked.

"Ignore them. We don't have time to wait for their ridiculous plan-arranging."

The girls nodded and followed Annie's instructions. After they were done, Annie went to the guys' gathering place and shoved them the box. "Draw." She commanded with one word.

"Eh!? Annie, when did you—"

"Draw."

The guys hesitantly drew the papers from the box, all the while their perfect plans being shattered to pieces. And once everyone had drawn their paper, Annie drew the last one.

"Goddammit! I'm a maid!?" Eren was the first one to yell. As if on cue, Mikasa quickly rushed to his side to confirm the paper. A smile formed on her face, "Good for you, Eren." She gave a thumb-up.

"Good for _you_! My pride's now a history!" Eren freaked out.

"…Eren…" Armin called with a lifeless voice.

"What's the matter, Armin?" Eren asked. The blonde showed him his paper with 'maid' written in it. "We're on the same boat…" his tears flew downward like waterfalls. And the two friends hugged each other while trying to heal their wounded pride.

"I got mascot costume! Way to ruin my hopes!" Connie whined.

"Still better than me, baldie! Trade with me, dammit!" Eren freaked out.

"Dream on! I'll only trade with butler!"

As the two of them argued, suddenly…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The whole class went silent when Reiner let out a long, hysterical scream. Everyone gathered around him to look at his paper which had 'maid' on it, some of them suppressed a giggle while the others looked at him with pity.

"Do your best, Reiner."

"Hang in there, dude."

"You can do it!"

"Stop your encouraging words, guys! You aren't making me feel better!" Reiner kneeled on the floor and hit it multiple times.

Sasha and Christa got maid while Ymir got mascot costume. Ymir kept talking about how she would protect Christa from the wolves with lusty eyes. On the other hand, Jean, Marco and Betholdt got mascot costume.

"Who are the butlers!?" Reiner questioned urgently.

They looked around just before both Annie and Mikasa showed them their papers; those two papers with 'butler' on them. Those two papers the guys in the class had been longing for.

"Why girls!? Why do the butlers have to be girls!? There's absolutely something wrong with this result!" Reiner complained.

"If you really want to be butler I don't mind trading with you."

Mikasa's voice suddenly sounded like music from heaven to Reiner. He quickly looked at Mikasa in utter surprise, "Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief.

Mikasa nodded.

Annie saw this and she remembered that this maid and mascot costume system was originally created to punish Reiner. There was no meaning for it if he didn't wear maid outfit. Before Mikasa could trade her paper with Reiner, Annie walked to her side and whispered something to her. Reiner could've sworn he saw Mikasa's eyes glowed in high spirit before she pulled her paper toward her again, securing it in her arms.

"I'm sorry, Reiner, this is my treasure."

"What the hell!?" Reiner retorted. Then he looked at the other person who owned the 'butler' paper. In a glace, he knew that it was impossible to trade it from her.

Reiner sighed in defeat and Annie slightly smirked in victory.

* * *

_He decided to go easy with the smaller girl._

_He launched himself at her, planning to end this with a single arm lock, but to his surprise, she managed to slip away from his grip. And she only needed a single kick to paralyze him entirely._

_He fell onto the floor and curled himself into a ball, trying to ease the pain in his ankle._

"_Wanna continue?" she asked, looking down at him._

_The blond gritted his teeth and quickly stood up again, enduring the pain. Then he quickly ran at the girl in attempt to grab her with both of his hands this time, but to his annoyance, she managed to slip away again. But this time, she didn't kick him._

"_Admit your defeat and I might teach you this cool move," she smirked._

_The cheering from before had died out._

_At first, he hesitated. But next, he grinned. "I lose."_

"_At least you're sportive."_

"_Hahaha. Of course. But you really like to run away, huh? Uh…"_

"_Annie Leonhardt…" she introduced herself._

"_Reiner Braun. Nice to meet you!" he grinned._

_Annie was quiet for a couple of seconds. Then she spoke up, "As for your question; all a frail girl like me could do is run away. If I run away, I can live."_

* * *

It was unusual today, as Annie sorted out the documents she had written before. Today was the first time she acted like a class secretary at all. She wrote the voting result just now and everything that was discussed in the meeting. She even offered to bring it to the Student Council room.

"Well then, I'm going now…" Annie informed to Reiner before going. The blond nodded and Annie made her way out.

Eren noticed how Reiner kept looking at Annie even after she exited the class and approached him.

"Why are you looking at her like that, Reiner?" Eren questioned.

The blond let out a rough sigh, "Hey, Eren, did Annie tell you something about her past? I mean, you've been hanging out with her a lot, right? Did she open up to you?" he asked.

"Why the random questions?" Eren raised a brow.

"I can't stand seeing her like this anymore, Eren. It has been six years since that incident. I just don't know how to make her forgive me…" Reiner messaged his temple as he talked.

Eren, getting desperate especially after what he overheard yesterday, went to sit beside Reiner. "Is it something you can't talk about? If you can say it, I'm gonna listen."

Reiner looked at Eren in the eyes and he could tell that Eren wasn't just asking simply because he was curious but because he really wanted to help them with their problem. The blond inhaled deeply before saying, "This is a very serious matter and remember, none of the things I'm gonna tell you is a joke so listen carefully. And don't tell anyone about it…"

His eyes firm, Eren nodded. "I won't."

Again, Reiner inhaled. Next, he began his story, "I met Annie seven years ago in her dad's dojo. She rarely came to the dojo, but that day, for the first time since I joined, she visited…"

* * *

_**Summer seven years ago…**_

* * *

The little girl made his way across the training hall, searching for the man who owned this place, her father. She didn't tell him ahead that she was coming here so she had to look for him by herself.

"Hey, you heard that? They say that girl's Leonhardt-_sensei_'s daughter."

"What? When you mention _sensei_'s daughter it's got to be a tough-looking one, right?"

"Look! She's such a shortie!"

Annie noticed a blond boy grinning at her, not kindly but mockingly, as though he was looking down on her. As though he was confident he could defeat her.

"Hey, you there!" the blond approached her, followed by a timid boy who seemed to be his friend. "You're _sensei_'s daughter, right? Let's see which one of us is stronger!" he challenged. He was quite big for his age.

The other boys had started cheering on him.

Not losing her cool, Annie faced him and raised her arms to head level. "Come at me," she said calmly.

It didn't take a long time for Annie gain full control of the situation and winning the competition. But she would always say that she was a frail girl and that all she could do was run away. Reiner considered it to be her being modest or something of the likes.

And that was pretty much their first meeting.

Ever since that day Annie would visit every week and Reiner would beg her to teach the 'cool moves' to him but after a while he realized that she was only teasing him by making him her sandbag. When he mentioned it to her, she just laughed contently as though saying he was the stupid one for obeying whatever she said.

She had such a terrible personality for a girl her age.

But the more Reiner and Bertholdt hung out with her they noticed how kind she actually was. They knew more than anyone, the side of Annie which was kept hidden from people.

And that day, one day before the end of summer vacation, marking one month since their first meeting, Annie invited both Reiner and Bertholdt to her house.

"Whoa! This is cool! You won all of this!?" Reiner exclaimed when he saw the row of golden cups and medals being displayed in the living room.

Annie, being stoic as always, simply nodded.

"You must be feared by the bullies in your school, aren't you, Annie?" Bertholdt commented.

Annie went quiet for a while and Reiner looked at her in puzzlement. Could it be a scary girl like her was bullied in her school?

"There aren't any bullies…" she muttered.

Growing suspicious of her statement, Reiner decided to check on Annie in secret whenever he had time, and it was true that no one in the school bullied her. True, she was a lone wolf and didn't have any friends, but it was more like she was feared rather than bullied.

But something just didn't feel right about this.

On a certain Sunday months after that, the three of them were playing at the local park. That day, Annie and Reiner got into an argument. It was nothing unusual. They fought and then Bertholdt had to play peacemaker between them.

"I didn't do it on purpose, alright? It's your fault for putting it aside anyway!"

"_My _fault!? You've got guts, Reiner. I saved it for the last! Take responsibility and go buy another one for me!"

"Why me? Ask Bert the errand boy!"

"EH!?" Bertholdt gasped.

"Is that how you use a friend!? You're the worst, Reiner! You jerk who doesn't understand what _guilt _means!" Annie glared. Quickly, she raised her arms to head level, forming her signature pose. As if on cue, Reiner also readied his own pose.

All of a sudden, the wind blew harder.

Standing between the two, Bertholdt sweated nervously. But before he could say anything to stop his two friends, Reiner had launched himself toward Annie all the while letting out a battle cry.

Annie prepared her usual pattern on mind, but today, instead of gripping her neck, Reiner gripped her waist, startling her. Using all his might, he lifted her up from the ground. Flustered, Annie elbowed his skull and kicked his chin, resulting in him falling backward and the two of them hitting the ground.

Bertholdt jawdropped at the surreal scene which just occurred before him.

Still lying on the ground, Reiner rubbed his head. "Ouch! What the hell, Annie?"

"It's your own fault, dummy!" Annie rubbed her chin. Apparently she hit her chin when they fell. "What's with that sudden new move?" she glared at him while standing up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

"That's my line! You did me good just now, eh!?"

"You—" Annie stopped when she saw a group of girls her age walked pass the park. Reiner and Bertholdt exchanged looks before looking back at her.

"What's wrong, Annie?"

She shook her head, "Nothing…" her voice trailed off.

* * *

Today was Tuesday, Reiner had class duty and told Bertholdt went home by himself. Usually, Bertholdt would wait for him but if Reiner told him to go home, he would do so.

As usual, he stopped by at Annie's school to check on her.

He saw a timid blonde girl running slowly while carrying a bucket of water and followed her out of curiosity. That girl gave the bucket to a group of girls of four or five behind the school building and joined them. Bertholdt decided to hide and observe the situation. It seemed like a bullying was happening.

The group of girls was surrounding a much smaller girl; Annie.

Bertholdt gasped but decided to observe longer.

A brown-haired girl, who appeared to be the leader of the group, smirked menacingly at Annie, who was still stoic as always. "Oh my, Leonhardt. Don't you think the boys have been hanging around you too much lately? Just because you're a little cute, don't act all high and mighty."

Annie merely listened to her.

"Yeah! Get off your high horse!" another girl added.

"Phoebe!" one of the girls called the leader. "I saw her hanging out with two unknown guys in a park once! I think she got sick of this school's guys and decided to trap the guys from another school!" she then smirked at Annie.

Annie looked the other way, too tired to deal with them. She just hoped it's going to be over soon.

"My, my, how despicable…" Phoebe's lips twisted in disgust.

Clicking her tongue, Annie finally decided to speak, "Can I go home now? I have to prepare dinner."

Phoebe's eye twitched. In rage she grabbed the bucket of water from the other girl's hands and splashed it all over the small girl's body. Annie coughed a couple of times to get rid of the water entering her mouth. The timid girl from before quickly went to her side, "Are you alright?" she asked in worry.

Annie nodded while still coughing.

"Leave her alone, Historia. Come along. We have to leave before anyone see us." The group of girls left and Historia, in the moment of hesitation, was convinced by Annie that she should go. Historia apologized to Annie before trailing behind the girls.

Annie rolled her shirt to squeeze the water out as much as she could manage. She untied her hair and squeezed the water out of it too. "Troublesome girls…" she muttered before going.

There, Bertholdt showed himself.

"Annie…"

"Bertholdt?" she widened her eyes in shock. "You're not supposed to be here today…" she muttered.

"Reiner told me to go home ahead. I'm glad I did…" he looked deeply into her.

She avoided his gaze.

"You're bullied after all…"

"…"

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"…"

"We're friends, aren't we?"

"…"

"Say something, Annie!"

Annie bit her lip and clenched her fists. "I had no choice!" she finally shouted.

"Why, Annie? You're very strong…"

"It may work on boys… But girls make a big deal out of every single scratch they have. If the school found out, they're going to call my dad. That's not a wise thing to do!"

"But… you prefer to suffer forever like this?" Berholdt frowned sadly.

"My dad once told me only a smart decision would save you from a deathly situation. You didn't have to be the strongest person in the world. All you had to be was someone who knew when to retreat. Be someone who could recognize her own weakness and didn't let pride consumes her." She gritted her teeth, "If I run away, I can live."

"This is not running away! You're letting them do whatever they want to you!"

"This _is _running away…" Annie walked pass him, "Don't tell Reiner anything…" and made her way out of the school ground. Bertholdt followed from behind and decided to not talk about it anymore.

On their way, they heard someone calling for them from behind.

"Oi, Annie, Bert!" he ran toward them while waving his hands. It seemed he was done with his cleaning duty. "Whoa! Why are you wet, Annie? You fell into a sewer or something?" he asked.

"No, I fell into the school's fishpond."

"What? Seriously?" Reiner blinked dumbly.

"Yeah…" Annie answered shortly then she continued her walk.

"Now that you mention it, you smell like fish—umph!" Reiner rolled into a ball, his hands gripping his stinging stomach which was elbowed by Annie just now.

"Not very tactful, are you?" she commented without looking back.

* * *

The next day, Annie stayed home because of fever. Reiner and Bertholdt visited her house and took care of her until she got better. However, a week later, on the same Tuesday, the bullying occurred again. It got worse when one of the girls informed Phoebe the leader about Reiner and Bertholdt's taking care of Annie. Annie had started to grow suspicious of that girl. How did she know everything?

"Know your place, Leonhardt! You disgust me!" Phoebe spat on Annie's face.

The blonde squinted her eyes and wiped it, _'You disgust me too…' _she mentally said.

"What's with that look? Are you challenging Phoebe, Leonhardt?" one of the girls said. The girl started pulling Annie's hair until her hair-band snapped, untying her hair. The other girls started pulling too, and Phoebe gave them a command.

"Throw her into the fishpond! She'll be very smelly!" Phoebe giggled.

The girls did as she commanded and made their attempt to pull Annie near the fishpond. Slightly panicked, Annie tried to resist them. But her power was nothing compared to four girls' strength and she finally gave in.

With a loud splash, Annie was drowning in the pond. The water itself wasn't that deep, but Annie's size was much smaller than average kids, and it did her good.

The girls had begun laughing mockingly at her.

When Annie was in the verge of losing consciousness, someone ran toward them and jumped into the pond, taking her in his arms and making sure her head was above the water. Once she was breathing normally, he brought them out of the pond.

The girls were shocked and began whispering.

"H-hey, isn't that one of the guys who often hangs out with Leonhardt?"

"Shit, gotta get out of here!"

"We're dead if he tells on us!"

"Let's just say we didn't mean it, okay?"

Phoebe stepped forward and faced Reiner, but before he could say a thing, Reiner yelled in her face. "What do you think you were doing!? Annie can't swim! If something happened just now I'm gonna make sure you pay me good time you hear me!? Dammit, I'm glad Bert offered to do my cleaning duty today!" his face was red in anger.

The girls cowered in fear and apologized in unison before running away.

Letting out a rough sigh, Reiner turned around and squatted beside Annie who was still coughing out the water that entered her mouth.

"It's humiliation… being saved by you… of all people…" Annie said in-between coughs.

"What's wrong with you? You flipped me down like I weighted a feather but you couldn't lay a finger on those limp girls! It's so not you! The Annie I know fights and wins!" Reiner stood up again and offered her a hand, "Come on, stand up. You're going to get sick again if you don't go home soon."

The girl glared at his hand before getting up by herself, "What are you acting all cool for?" she muttered in irritation.

"Well, I _am _cool." He grinned. "I bet those bullies won't dare to get near you anymore!"

Annie sighed and picked up her bag before going away, Reiner following from behind.

They thought it was over….

…But it was still far from it.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**Alright, I hope I did everything well. Simply that.**_

_**And the next chapter will be about the death of Annie's dad D: Stay tuned! ;3**_

_**And yeah, the Historia from above is like in Christa, okay? It's not some girl who **_**coincidentally **_**had the same name as her…**_

_**See you next time~**_


	7. Her Grudge, His Guilt

**I apologize for the fairly late update, readers. I just hope this chapter will satisfy you guys. And the good news is, I've almost finished writing the next chapter so it's not gonna take long until I update the next chapter ;)**

**First of all, I am sorry for you guys who were hoping to see ErenxMikasa or RivaillexMikasa since the recent chapters focus on Annie… But worry not, the next chapter is all about ErenxMikasaxRivaille! XD**

**Anyway, thank you **_**alex, hiyomi, Enigma infinite, Nancy Haibara, eyesonbluefire, Kim20, Guest, Reichan25, Kuro-KuriKuri, Ayexia, Seraphicpapilion, Silentux131, GishelSasuhina, Iam Titania-falls, Dinendir, Kuroi Onee-san, Ustanak, Guest, Nathanael **_**and **_**Hmph da **_**for reviewing the previous chapter! I give you each a cyber cookie~**

**Anyway, I'm super excited when I can finally download the full version of Guren no Yumiya and the second opening, Jiyuu no Tsubasa! X3 I'm so gonna listen to those songs a lot! They give me inspirations! And chapter 47 of the manga shocked me to death ._.**

**Okay, enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

**Chapter 7. Her Grudge, His Guilt**

* * *

She crouched and observed the now-unmoved object on the ground.

The white, fluffy thing was formerly a rabbit. It was a rabbit the school kept as a pet and she usually spent her allowance on carrots and lettuce to feed it every once in a while. She had grown fond of it, though. Who did this terrible thing?

"I'm sorry…" Annie muttered as she picked up the body and went to find a place to bury it.

Using her fingers, she dug a grave for the rabbit. Deep down she had already known who did this. It had been a month since they threw her into the fishpond. She thought they had decided to stop bullying her. Now it got even worse.

As she put the dead body inside the hole, she gritted her teeth. Bullying her was one thing, but hurting other people or animals to drag her down was cowardice.

"Oh my, fancy meeting here, Leonhardt. It's been a while since we last converse, has it not?"

It was Phoebe and her girls.

"Hey, hey, look! She's burying something!"

"Eww, is that a dead rabbit?"

"Gosh! You killed it, Leonhardt? I never knew you're this heartless!"

Annie clenched her fist in attempt to endure her anger. She was upset over the rabbit's death and now she had to listen to them spouting bullshits. For some reason she thought of Reiner's words back then.

.

.

"_What's wrong with you? You flipped me down like I weighted a feather but you couldn't lay a finger on those limp girls! It's so not you! The Annie I know fights and wins!"_

_._

_._

Come to think of it, why did she have to hold back? It wouldn't even take half a minute to take the five of them down. She could end this with barely any scratch on their faces they treasure so much, maybe. But then again, why did she have to hold back? That question kept repeating in her head.

_Why do I have to hold back?_

She glanced at the giggling girls once again.

_Aah… Let's finish this quickly…_

Without saying a thing, Annie launched herself at Phoebe, startling the girl in process, but before the girl could react at anything Annie had kicked her ankle hard. She cried in pain and crouched on the ground. The other girls stared in shock. After Phoebe was paralyzed on the ground, Annie went to the second girl, whom stomach she kicked with her knee. Next, she delivered a punch to the third girl. The fourth girl was the one who always reported Annie's activity to Phoebe; the most suspicious one. Annie did an arm-lock and spun a kick before flipping her over, resulting in the girl to land in a somersault pose.

Flicking her hair, Annie looked at the remaining girl; Historia.

From her pocket, she pulled out a band-aid and gave it to the timid girl who was shivering in fear. "Here, use this somewhere. They're gonna get suspicious if you're the only one without wound." Annie whispered.

Her blue eyes were cold and chilling. Historia was reluctant, but she took the band-aid anyways. Annie then pushed her, making her fall backward only to make the other girls thought she was hitting Historia as well.

Annie left to continue burying the rabbit.

"Th-thank you, Leonhardt-_san_…" Historia whispered.

Annie nodded before going home.

* * *

"Mister, your daughter, Annie Leonhardt, was reported to have assaulted her classmates yesterday afternoon. Of course I understand your circumstances of having to raise her all by yourself, but I would appreciate it if you discipline her a little more. In addition, she hasn't made any progress in socializing with her classmates, either. I have started to get worried that she might be mentally pressured. This happens often to children without mothers…"

Annie had her head hung low as she listened to her homeroom teacher's talk with her dad. But she didn't regret her decision one bit. She did the right thing, she convinced herself.

However, after her teacher went home, her dad started scolding her again.

"Do you understand what you've done, Annie? I thought I told you to always take the smartest decision in any situation…"

"They killed the rabbit…"

"Well… that's wrong of them. But you shouldn't use martial arts for this. I didn't teach you martial arts for you to use it this way, Annie…"

Annie glared, "I didn't learn it because I want it. You forced me into it."

"What are you saying?" her dad frowned.

"It's never even useful. I'm sick of it! What did I even learn it for? Just to endure the pain of being bullied? What was all that training for, then? What do you want me to do?" she yelled.

"You're being very rude, Annie! I never taught you to talk back at me, put aside yelling!"

With her patience wearing out, Annie stormed out of the house.

"Annie!"

She could hear her dad shouted one last time before disappearing completely.

* * *

Wandering around the streets in normal clothes wasn't the best thing to do on winter. Annie had started to feel cold and she had to hug her arms to keep herself from freezing.

Night fell and the temperature lowered even more.

_I have to look for a warm place or I won't survive until morning._

She remembered the huge pipes at the park she used to hang out with Reiner and Bertholdt in. It would be a little warmer there. While thinking that, she made her way to the park.

"Hey, is that you, Annie?"

Annie turned around just to see the two guys she always hung out with.

"Those clothes… did you run away from home, Annie?" Bertholdt's guess hit the mark. Why did he have to be such a smart-ass?

Avoiding his gaze, Annie sweated.

"I thought so!" Bertholdt said again.

"Why did you run away, Annie? Leonhardt-sensei yelled at you or something?" now Reiner's guess hit the mark. Since when did he become a smart-ass!?

Annie sweated even more.

Reiner and Bertholdt exchanged looks before nodding at each other, agreeing on forcing Annie to tell the truth. At first, Annie avoided telling the truth but eventually she gave in. She told them about her beating Phoebe and her girls because they killed the rabbit, and about her dad yelling at her just now.

"I'm surprised they still haven't given up on bullying you until now…" Bertholdt commented.

"Rather than that, wow Annie! You actually fought them? I mean, did you use one of your special moves?" Reiner exclaimed excitedly. His eyes sparkled.

Annie looked away nervously, "Yeah… I guess…" she mumbled.

"Shiiiit! That's so cool! I wish I was there!" Reiner punched his palm, overly-excited.

Annie sighed at his enthusiasm while Bertholdt only smiled. As the three of them stood there, a sudden gust of wind blew past them and Annie hugged her arms while shivering.

"Hey, Annie, where do you plan to stay tonight?" Reiner asked.

"I don't know."

"Seriously? Why don't you come to my place? Bert is staying over at my place too! I mean, winter vacation starts tomorrow anyway. We don't need to worry about school. What do you say?" Reiner grinned.

Annie thought for a while before speaking up, "Alright. It's way better than sleeping in the pipe anyway…"

"Sweet!" Reiner and Bertholdt smiled at her.

* * *

"We're home!" Reiner greeted once he stepped inside his house.

From inside, a woman's voice replied, "Welcome home, Reiner—Goodness gracious, who is this little angel!?"

Annie jerked away as the blonde woman approached her with sparkling eyes and twitching fingers. However, when she made her attempt to run away, she was already in the deathly grip of the older woman. The young woman rubbed her cheek against Annie's and hugged her tighter. "She's soooo cute, Reiner! Can I keep her?" she squealed.

"What's wrong with you, mom? She's not an animal!" Reiner shouted.

'_Mom!?'_ Annie gasped. This young woman was Reiner's mom?

"Aww… Reiner, you meanie…" the woman pouted and released Annie. Still not satisfied, she patted Annie's head and grinned almost stupidly, "Oh… Why does she have to be so cute?" then she pumped her fist firmly. "I've decided! I want a daughter! I'm going to discuss this with your dad, Reiner!" she said in a very serious tone.

"Are you okay, mom!?" Reiner freaked out at the sudden decision his mom made.

"Why not…?" Mrs. Braun moaned.

"Dad is abroad and he already said that he doesn't want another child anyway! And it's not like I want a sister, okay?"

The blonde woman pouted before sighing, "Okay…" then she looked away. "You're just like your dad… You never listen to what I want…" she mumbled.

"Knock it off!" Reiner groaned.

* * *

"It fits!" Mrs. Braun clasped her hands.

Annie was wearing a small girl's pajama which had been left unused in Mrs. Braun's closet for years. She mentioned that she had wanted a daughter ever since Reiner was born but since her body was weak and she almost didn't make it when delivering Reiner she was banned from having another child.

"You're even cuter now, Annie-_chan_! By the way, I made Reiner wear this pajama when he was five. You're ten years old now, aren't you, Annie-_chan_?" Mrs. Braun questioned quizzically.

"Wha—" Annie didn't even know where to begin pointing out what bugs her from Mrs. Braun's sentences just now. The fact that Reiner wore a female pajama when he was five or the fact that Mrs. Braun just said Annie was as small as a five-year old.

Annie jumped in surprise when the older woman stroked her hair. "I heard from Reiner that you lost your mother shortly after you were born?" she smiled lovingly at her.

Nodding, Annie avoided her gaze.

"Don't worry, you can become my daughter!" she beamed.

"…What!?"

* * *

Two days after Annie stayed at the Braun house, Christmas was just around the corner. Mrs. Braun decided to take Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie to a restaurant and did a lot of Christmas activity, including decorating Christmas tree and exchanging presents.

"Lame, Annie, you're lame!" Reiner laughed mockingly at the sight of Annie jumping again and again to reach the highest part of the tree.

"Shut it, Reiner!" Annie shot a glare.

"Come on, you two…" Bertholdt tried to separate them.

Mrs. Braun patter her chin thoughtfully, "Still too tall, Annie-_chan_? I bought the smallest tree in the shop, though…" she muttered.

"The smallest tree and you still can't reach it! Seriously, Annie, I'm gonna die of laughter soon!" Reiner literally rolled on the floor laughing.

"Dammit…" Annie mumbled before shoving the star to Reiner. "You put it on."

Reiner ceased his laughing and grinned at her before shoving her hand back and picked her up and made him sit on his shoulder. "Now you can reach it, right?" he said.

Annoyed at how he seemed to be mocking her height, she elbowed his skull and earned a yelp from him before putting the star on top of the tree. Overly-excited by the scene, Mrs. Braun quickly pressed the shutter of her digital camera again and again while Bertholdt chuckled nervously at it.

Annie stayed longer than expected. Betholdt's sleep-over session was over but Annie still stayed. And for some reasons, her dad never looked for her. The Braun house had gotten used to her presence day by day. In a blink of an eye, it was New Year.

The three of them clasped their hands and began saying their prayers in mind.

After they were done, they made their way to buy some snacks from the stands. When buying some _takoyaki_, the shopkeeper said, "What lovely children you have there, ma'am. Here, let me give you some extra balls."

"Oh my, thank you. Aren't they just cute? Especially my daughter." Mrs. Braun smiled brightly.

Beside her, Reiner began mumbling, _"The hell? She prefers Annie over me? I'm her real child!"_

The three of them sat on a vacant bench and ate _takoyaki_ together. When she was eating, Annie felt as if someone was watching her. Quickly, she turned around. Surely, a shadow quickly hid behind a tree when she did so. Getting suspicious, she left the bench and went to that particular tree. When she peaked behind, she saw a somewhat familiar girl crouching in fear she might get found.

She knew this girl.

She was one of Phoebe's girls. And she was the one who always reported to Phoebe about her activity. This stalker, so she always followed her everywhere. Surely Phoebe had known that she had been staying at Reiner's place for a week by now.

"Oi. Stand up." Annie's eyes looked down at her.

"N, no!" her voice was trembling, but the girl's got guts. "Phoebe is furious right now. I'm not sure what she will do if you keep clinging onto Reiner!" she warned.

Annie raised a brow, "What does Reiner have to do with anything?" she asked.

The girl stopped trembling and faced Annie with an unexplainable expression, "What? You mean you don't know anything and you keep up with the constant bullying up until then!? What's wrong with you!?" she yelled.

"You have no right to judge me, jerk. Just answer my question."

"Wait, seriously, you didn't know anything about Phoebe's crush on Reiner Braun? Not one bit?"

Annie actually blinked at that, "Huh? Crush? What are you even talking about?"

"You really didn't know anything!?"

Annie shrugged.

"Oh God, then you really need to return to your house. I overheard Phoebe talking about hurting your dad or something. Don't get me wrong, okay? It just doesn't sit right with me when I learn that you know nothing but have to through something like this." The girl sounded too serious to be considered joking.

"Wait, what is Phoebe plotting?" Annie had to fight the shivers in her voice.

* * *

Someone pressed the bell of the Leonhardt house.

"Coming!" the voice of a man could be heard from inside. But once the door was opened, a group of six men in black pushed their way into the house. "Hey, what is the meaning of this?" Mr. Leonhardt questioned, sounding irritated.

One of the men pointed a gun at him and he stared in surprise.

"If possible we didn't want this to end bloody, Mr. Leonhardt. But you see, your daughter did a good number on our precious Milady, so…" the gun was pressed on his forehead. "…your life is required to pay it at the least…"

Before the man could do a thing, though, Mr. Leonhardt had already crouched down and kicked his ankle, making him fall on his knees. In a flash, the gun was now in his possession. "Weapons down!" he demanded.

_I might be a skilled martial artist, but under the presence of long-ranged weapons I am powerless. I have to make sure none of them holds their weapon_, he thought.

* * *

Annie ran and ran, hoping to make it on time. Behind her, Reiner followed.

The girl's voice echoed in her head.

.

.

"_From what I heard, those people are professionals. They can assassinate anyone!"_

.

.

She increased her speed, getting desperate.

_Please be safe, dad!_

* * *

When Annie had arrived, however, her dad was already lying cold on the floor in the pool of his own blood. No one else was there at the scene.

Annie felt her whole body trembled at the sight.

"DAD!" she shouted as she ran to his side but it was too late. He could move no more. She could never see him anymore. And her last conversation with him was a ridiculous fight.

Behind Annie, Reiner was not less shocked, knowing that Annie's dad died because of some girl who held a crush on him. Just for a ridiculous reason like that, Annie had to lose her only family member left.

Ever since her father's death, Annie grew colder than before. She even swore that she would be leaving the world of martial arts. And by the end of the winter vacation, Annie had moved to another school, following the family who would be taking care of her. However, after a month, Reiner managed to track her down. And under his mother's permission, he moved to Annie's new school, followed by Bertholdt.

In the new school, however, Annie acted like she didn't give a damn about them. And in that new school, it seemed as though the words about Annie beating up five girls at once had spread everywhere. This made everyone looked at Annie with fear.

This continued until middle school.

Most of the students still kept their distance from Annie due to fear. But one day, a guy approached Reiner and asked him a certain thing.

"Hey, Reiner, it seems that you're quite close with Leonhardt. Truth is, I'm interested in her, you see. She's feared but I know that deep down, she's a kind person. I want to confess to her today. Can you, like, tell her that I'll be waiting behind the school building?" that guy looked a little flustered when saying those things.

"You're interested in Annie?" Reiner's eyes lit up. "Alright, I'll do what I can!" he grinned.

"Thanks, dude!"

* * *

Annie wasn't the easiest person to convince. She kept refusing stubbornly but after a few more attempts, she gave in. "Just this once…" she muttered in a bored tone.

"Of course!"

Walking behind the school building, Annie met with the guy. Reiner was secretly watching them. The guy timidly greeted Annie and she only replied with a nod. After fidgeting for a while, the guy blushed and finally confessed but Reiner couldn't hear a thing.

"I like you, Leonhardt! W-would you go out with me?" he blushed heavily.

On the other hand, Annie's expression didn't waver. "…Is that it?" she asked.

"…Eh?"

"My answer is no. Can I go home now?"

"Wait—You can't possibly turn me down just like this! That's cold!"

Annie's blue eyes pierced into him, "I know everything, okay? I know you're bullied by that big guy… Who was it? Troy or something? He made you do this, didn't he?"

"What? I didn't—"

"What? He blackmailed you or something? Being bullied is not a nice feeling, is it?" Annie's face was still stoic as ever.

Gritting his teeth, the guy was at loss. He could think of nothing to counter Annie and finally lost control. He brought his fist up and prepared to launch it. Once he launched it, however, it was caught by a bigger palm.

"Don't use violent when you're rejected. That's not very manly." Reiner said in a low tone.

The guy gasped and ran away, tail between legs.

Reiner turned around just to find Annie had disappeared from her spot and was walking toward the school gates. Not a word of thanks.

Feeling the uneasiness in his heart, he shouted to Annie, "Annie! I'm really sorry about everything! Can we stay friends?"

Annie stopped her track for a couple of second before looking over her shoulder, "Stop apologizing…" she said coldly.

That dialog kept repeating itself over and over for years.

* * *

_**Present…**_

* * *

"She hates me ever since that day, ever since her father's death… And she stopped doing martial arts because of me…" Reiner lowered his head. His eyes were dark and at loss of hope.

Eren spoke up, "I don't think she hates you at all."

Looking at Eren, Reiner chuckled, "Are you trying to cheer me up?"

"No. She couldn't say she likes you, but she doesn't hate you. She said that herself, Reiner. And come to think of it, she told me to tell you something…" Eren tried to recall what Annie told him at the karaoke.

Reiner waited patiently for Eren to say what he was trying to recall.

Eren's face lit up as he finally recalled it, "She said that she's okay now, so you don't have to always feel guilty." He faced Reiner and smiled bitterly before continuing it, "She said you don't need to act nice to her out of guilt…"

Wide-eyed, Reiner stood up. "What's she talking about!? I'm not acting nice to her out of guilt!"

"I know that, Reiner. But Annie doesn't seem like she noticed. And on the other hand, _you _don't seem to notice her true feelings too, you dense guy."

"…Her true feelings?"

"What she wants to hear isn't an apologize. From what I hear from your story, what she wants is simple, Reiner. You should've realized it by now, too, man." Eren grinned.

* * *

Reiner ran down the corridor, hoping to catch up to her. Not long after, he saw her walking slowly while checking the documents she wrote before.

"Annie!" he called.

She turned around, "Reiner? What's with the rush? There's a change in the decision?" she asked.

Not answering her question, he stood exactly three meters away from her and in his fighting pose. She blinked quizzically and tried to read his expression.

.

.

"_You should've realized it by now, too, man. She wants you to tell her it's okay to fight and not run away. She wants you to tell her not to regret the decision she made."_

_._

_._

He grinned at her.

Finally understanding his intention, Annie put down the documents and prepared her fighting pose as well. Despite her unchanged expression, Reiner knew that she livened up quite a bit.

"Come!"

At her signal, Reiner's foot hit the floor as he launched himself to her. He surprised her by lifting her up by her waist. However, her reaction was faster than the old days. She elbowed his skull and slipped away from his grip before jumping away and landed safely.

On the other hand, Reiner fell flat on the floor.

"That was kinda nostalgic." She commented.

Reiner's heart jolted. For six years straight, Annie acted like they were strangers who never knew each other. This was the first time after six years she finally said something like that. Something that indicated they had known each other for a long time.

He laughed loudly, startling her.

"What's with you? Did you hit your head too hard?" she asked warily.

"You know what, Annie?" he asked, not even bothering to get up from the floor.

"What?"

.

.

"_She wants you to stop her from leaving the world of martial art she loves…"_

_._

_._

"You're still cool. Just like when we were brats. You fight and win!" Reiner grinned at her and pumped his fist.

She looked away, slightly flustered. "It's not like I fight to look cool…"

Still grinning, Reiner pointed his little finger at her, "Promise me you won't ever leave the world of martial arts ever again."

Annie closed her eyes and sighed, but Reiner could see the faint smile shortly before it disappeared. She hooked her little finger around his, "You're six years late…" she muttered.

"Not my fault. How am I supposed to know what you want?" Reiner grinned.

"You really don't know what _guilt _means, do you?"

"Well, you don't like me feeling guilty, do you?"

She snorted before picking up the documents and continued her journey to the Student Council room, Reiner following from behind.

* * *

"I can't believe the Student Council approved of that ridiculous voting result!"

Eren commented when Reiner and Annie was back from the Student Council, informing them of the approval of their meeting result. But then again, the ultra flexible secretary of Student Council, Hanji Zoë, was there. Everything was possible.

When Eren turned around, however, he found Mikasa typing in her phone at the corner of the class.

Mikasa closed her phone and a smile of satisfaction made its way to her lips.

The content of the text message she just sent was:

_Thank you very much for your corporation. I am in your debt._

_-Mikasa_

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**Alright, guys! The quiz for this chapter is: "Who did Mikasa send the text message to?"**_

_**I guess this question is very easy, but oh well, for you who manage to answer this, I'm gonna send the preview for the next chapter via PM ;) **_

_**By the way, yeah, I am mimicking **_**Digibear**_**'s style since I was so excited when she sent me a sneak peak for the next chapter of her **_**The Corporals' Words**_**! Kyaa! I still can't forget the feeling!**_

_**See you next time~**_


	8. Dinner

**Hi, we meet again, guys! I didn't take long to update, did I? :3**

**Thank you **_**ca99oline, Sunny Sonic, Seraphicpapilion, Anti-Shadow Aigis, Kuro-KuriKuri, Kim20, silentux131, Alexnoel1422427, guest, Kuroi Onee-san, meshi-chan, Ana cii Bunny, Ayexia, animeloverforeverjapan, Iam Titania-falls, Guest, YanHime, alex, sparkling apples, hamchan, Death Appraiser, Batse, **_**and **_**Nathaniel **_**for your lovely reviews! *heart***

**By the way, I decided to increase Hanji's appearance starting this chapter (Yes, I'm a Hanji fan and apparently, a RivaillexHanji fan too. Aaah, I have too many favorite pairings in this anime~)**

**Have you watched episode 14? I love Hanji's "Kimi ga Eren da ne~?"! It sounds so refreshing! I just love her carefree style! So soothing~ And the second opening video is definitely much more epic than the first! The ending song is good, too!**

**Anyway, enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

There was a time when Mikasa would follow Eren quietly like an obedient little sister. Every word he said was her guiding light. She followed him. Because she knew, that he would show her a world brighter that she had ever known.

That day, Eren was a mess. He fought three bigger kids. And it was for her sake.

They went home with Mikasa on his back even though he was covered in bruises. She told him she could walk by herself but he insisted on carrying her home since she sprained her ankle. On their way home, Mikasa was reminded by the words the bullies said to her earlier.

"Say, Eren…" she whispered from behind him. Her breath tickled his neck.

"Hn?"

"They said I was weird. They said that… I'm not supposed to be here. Am I… a burden to you and your family, Eren?" she buried her face in the nape of his neck when she said that.

"Ha! Nonsense! You're smart and can do anything! What kind of burden could you possibly put on us?" Eren denied.

Mikasa brought her face up, eyes wide. "But, I—"

"Anyway, Mikasa!" he cut her. "Stop talking like an outsider. You're my sister now, okay? They can say whatever they want but that fact would never change."

"…Eren…" her voice slightly trembled and so was her body. She realized that ever since that day she joined the family, never once did Eren mention a thing that implied Mikasa was a stranger. He treated her as a part of the family.

She buried her face again, and Eren could feel the wetness at the nape of his neck.

"Crap! Are you crying again, Mikasa? You're such a crybaby! Come on, if you keep crying mom will yell at me!" Eren panicked.

She smiled.

Every time he called her name, she could feel this tinge of warmth in her heart.

He was her brother, her savior, her _everything._

* * *

**Chapter 8. Dinner**

* * *

Reiner slammed the whiteboard once, and the class fell into silence.

"Alright, everybody, through Christa's dad's connection, we got the costumes for the festival already. Every single one of you, take one according to what you drew the other day and try it on! You're dismissed!"

After that, Christa came in carrying a huge carton box and Ymir following from behind, carrying two more.

"This is not real! I'm getting out of here!" Eren wailed and attempted to escape but Mikasa quickly grabbed his hand and put him back on his seat.

"Wait there, okay? I'll get your and Armin's maid dress!" Mikasa gave a thumb up before running into the flood of people surrounding the carton boxes.

"Mikasa, noooo!" Armin screamed hysterically but Mikasa was already gone.

The blond quickly covered his face with both hands and weep at the corner of the room, imagining the humiliation he had to endure once he wore that cursed attire called _maid dress. _Gulping in anxiety after seeing his friend's mental breakdown, Eren began to tremble.

He clasped his hands and began to mumble some prayers.

At another corner of the room, Reiner squatted. Grim aura surrounded him as he mumbled inaudible things. Standing behind him was Annie and Bertholdt, who exchanged pitiful gazes before talking to him,

"Come on, Reiner, we've got yours here." Bertholdt persuaded him.

"Stand up right now, how long are you going to divert your eyes from reality? This is a fair result. You can do nothing about it." Annie lectured, hand on hip.

"But… But…" Reiner started sobbing like a spoiled child.

'_This guy's a pain…' _Annie thought as a vein on her forehead started throbbing. Just when Annie had decided to leave him alone believing that time will heal him, the built man got up and pulled her hoodie resulting in her almost falling backward.

She snapped her head up at him, "What's your problem?"

Then she saw him holding something in his hands. Annie's eye twitched when she finally got what he meant. What he was holding was a pair of white cat ears.

"What do you want with that?" Annie feigned ignorance but her cold tone betrayed it.

"Wear these and I'll get better!"

The vein on her forehead started throbbing again after only a couple of seconds of rest. _'This jerk… He hasn't given up on humiliating me, I see…'_

Reiner noticed how much scarier Annie's glare today was compared to usual. He gulped and laughed nervously, "Ahahaha… What are you being angry for, Annie? Of course it was a joke! I actually prepared this for Christa! She's gonna look cute with—_augh_!"

Quite surprised by Ymir's sudden attack on Reiner, Annie blinked a couple of times. She could hear something broke.

"Make Christa wear those insolent ears and this is going to be the last time you see your nose, Reiner…" Ymir sounded scary with her low tone.

On the other hand, Christa quickly rushed to Reiner's side, ready with her first-aid kit. As expected of the class nurse. But that action earned Ymir's jealousy and Reiner had to put up with Ymir's deathly glare that had this _you-are-going-to-lose-much-more-than-just-your-nos e _meaning on it while being treated by Christa.

At the other side of the class, some of the students had changed into their respective costume.

"I'm so jealous, Connie! Your costume looks like a potato!" Sasha commented while drooling. In front of her was Connie Springer, fully dressed in a potato costume.

"Hah! Your maid dress is nowhere near my costume!" Connie said proudly. For some reason he started liking his costume, probably because he got someone to praise him.

"Can I eat you!?"

"What!? That sounds so wrong in more ways than one!"

Meanwhile, both Jean and Marco also had changed into their costumes. Jean as an egg while Marco as a tomato. Not getting the connection between their costumes and their café, Jean, as usual, spoke his mind bluntly.

"What's this have to do with anything!? We look more like we're selling food ingredients than food!" Jean shouted.

"Well, don't be so mad, Jean. It's Mikasa's idea, you know?" Marco smiled nervously.

"EH!?" Jean quickly turned to look at the half Asian girl. She had her eyes looking like a puppy that just got yelled by its owner. "W-wait, Mikasa! I seriously didn't think that way! It was just a form of speech, you see!" he started blurting excuses.

But Mikasa's expression lit up, "You like it, Jean?" she asked.

"O, ouh! Of course! I feel like I'm gonna eat more eggs after this!" Jean's smile twitched but Mikasa didn't seem to notice.

"At first I thought Sasha was going to get to wear costumes so I suggested adding potato, but I guess she's not…" Mikasa said flatly. But unknown to her, Jean was being shot by a cupid's arrow the second she said that.

'_You think about your friends a lot, Mikasa. You're very kind! I'm touched!' _Jean's tears began streaming like waterfalls.

After a while, everyone had changed into their costumes. Ymir in coffee cup costume prevented Christa from showing herself in front of the others and it earned disappointment from them. Reiner managed to endure the humiliation after consulting Eren, who had the same fate. While Bertholdt in ice cream costume only smiled as if he was already used to it. And Armin was surprisingly popular in maid outfit, mostly because he looked a lot like a girl.

The last two were Mikasa and Annie.

Both of them tied their hair into short ponytail. Their butler outfits gave out elegant aura on them, especially because the two of them had cool façade.

The class was quiet for a while before—

"Great, Annie! I didn't get to see Christa in maid outfit but this is really something!" Reiner retrieved his phone from his pocket and started taking pictures with his nose bleeding from Ymir's hit just now… and some other reasons.

Annie's eye twitched again but she saw Bertholdt smiling nervously at her and she knew he tried to tell her to hold back. She sighed and nodded.

"Marco! Do me a favor and take pictures of Mikasa in my stead! Here, my phone!" Jean shoved his phone at Marco.

"Eh? Why me?" Marco asked, puzzled.

"If she saw me taking photos she's gonna think of me as some kind of pervert, so…"

"So it's okay if she thinks _I_'m a pervert?" Marco deadpanned.

"Argh! Marco, please! I'm begging you, dude!"

Marco sighed, "Okay, okay…"

In a short while, the class was filled with flashes from phone camera. It looked as though a fashion show was happening in class 1-04.

Eren noticed how natural Mikasa moved. The movements were small but natural, as though she was already used to this somewhere. But then again, she saw Annie doing the same and assumed that the two of them were just good at dealing with being shot.

* * *

"Mikasa, the bath's free!" Eren shouted once he was out of the bathroom.

"Coming!" she replied as she came from the living room.

Once she entered the bathroom, Eren went to the living room to watch TV. Noticing Mikasa's phone on the table, he assumed that she was messaging someone up until just now. Not thinking twice, Eren grabbed the phone and flipped it open. He opened the inbox and his brows knitted.

Had been living with her for years, he had never once saw her texting with anyone. Usually, if she had business, she would call them directly.

Eren quickly pressed the _enter _button and opened the message.

_Object: Dinner_

_I'm going to fetch you tomorrow on 6.30 P.M.  
Be ready by then because I'm not waiting for you, Mikasa._

_-Rivaille_

Eren felt like crushing the phone into pieces. What was that? Mikasa was invited to a dinner? But that was not the most suspicious part yet. If he recalled, Rivaille-_kaichou _called Mikasa by her family name instead of her given name. When did he start calling Mikasa by her given name!?

He was relieved when Mikasa finally changed her shift back and Rivaille-_kaichou _stopped coming to the house to fetch her but it seemed the situation got even worse.

'_Don't tell me they start going out without even asking for _my _permission!?'_

(P.S. Due to an abundant amount of suspicion, Eren had started thinking exaggeratingly.)

"I'm _not _letting this go smoothly!" he gritted his teeth.

* * *

Annie was reading a book while leaning against Bertholdt on the sofa. Sitting beside Bertholdt was Reiner. Apparently Reiner and Bertholdt visited her apartment saying they wanted to watch movie together and for some reason they brought romance movie, which didn't fit Annie's taste so she ignored the whole movie and preferred reading a book instead.

"Oh man, he's so stupid! He just passed the woman he loves!" Reiner commented.

"They were separated by the people passing by, Reiner…" Bertholdt added.

While the two were too absorbed with the movie, Annie's phone vibrated. She put her book aside and looked at her phone. There was one text message. She opened it and apparently, it was from Eren.

* * *

_Annie, can you accompany me to a dinner tomorrow? I'm not skipping our training tomorrow, okay?_

_There's this suspicious guy who invites Mikasa to a dinner and I found out that there has to be at least a guy and a girl to enter that dinner place. I asked Armin to crossdress but he refused! DX_

_You're the only one I can ask a favor from! m(_ _)m_

* * *

Annie raised a brow at the message before typing a reply asking where the dinner was going to be. Eren mentioned a high-class restaurant named Winter Rendesvouz but Annie countered him by saying that he needed an early reservation to get a place there. Panicking, Eren asked what he was supposed to do. The dinner was tomorrow and he couldn't possibly get a place by reserving today.

Sighing, Annie shook her head, pitying Eren. Then she replied that her acquaintance actually invited her to a dinner there tomorrow but she suddenly couldn't make it so Annie decided to cancel it but if Eren really wanted to go they could use her acquaintance's name to get a place.

Eren thanked her excitedly.

Annie replied one last time before putting her phone on back to the table. She noticed the movie had ended and her two friends had slept soundly. She got up from the sofa and went to find a blanket to cover them.

She noticed the two of them were carrying backpack when they visited so she assumed they were going to stay for the night anyway. Not bothering to wake them up, she went to sleep.

* * *

On the morning of the next day, Eren woke up later than Mikasa. She had already prepared breakfast and was hanging the laundry. Eren got up and went to wash his teeth before going to the dining room.

"Eren, I have work today but I'll be back on 3, okay? I'm afraid you'll have to eat lunch outside." Mikasa said at the dining table. Today was Saturday and the school didn't have afternoon lessons.

"Okay. I have plans with Annie anyway."

Mikasa froze. "With Annie?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"You didn't tell me anything about it."

'_Well you didn't tell me a thing about your dinner plan too!' _was what Eren wanted to say but he didn't want Mikasa to find out that he knew everything. "Maybe I forgot."

"Is it a date?" she asked, eyes narrowing.

'_Yours is a date, right!?' _Eren gritted his teeth. "Maybe…" he answered.

At that, Mikasa dropped her fork and gaped like a goldfish. Eren stopped eating as well when he saw Mikasa trembling for some reasons. He raised a brow at her. She had her head hung low and she was much quieter than earlier.

"…Mikasa?"

Mikasa was silent, but the she opened her mouth to speak, "I'm going to be blunt here…" then she stood up and slammed the dining table, making Eren jumped slightly. "I still haven't mentally prepared myself for this, Eren. Please don't grow up too fast and leave me behind…" she muttered sadly.

That defeated look on her face never failed to make him feel guilty.

But he wasn't going to back up on this one! Screw Mikasa. She didn't even tell him a thing about her and Rivaille-_kaichou _going out so why should he concern himself with her?

"Why can't I? I think I'm old enough to make my own choices now."

"But—"

"This talk ends here."

"Eren—"

"Thanks for the food. I'm going to school early, okay?" Eren said before picking up his bag and left the house, leaving Mikasa all confused.

* * *

Mikasa went to the school after Eren but when she arrived, she couldn't find the lad anywhere in sight. His things were there but he wasn't. Soon the bell rang but Eren was still nowhere in sight.

Sighing, Mikasa buried her face in her arms.

Beside her, Armin got a little worried and decided to ask her what's wrong.

"Eren's not here…" she answered, her voice muffled.

"Eh? If it's about Eren, he went with Hanji-_senpai_ this morning. _Senpai _took a liking to him and dragged him to her laboratorium."

Mikasa quickly brought her head up.

"…Hanji-_senpai_?"

Before Mikasa could say anything more, someone slammed the door open and shouted in urgency, "Is Annie here? Follow me to the lab this instance! This is urgent!" she jumped hysterically.

Everyone turned their attention to Annie who was a little confused by the situation. And because she didn't move from her seat, Hanji approached her in a quick pace and pulled her.

"Come on, this urgent, I'm not lying!" she whined.

"Eh? Ah…" Annie recovered from her confusion and followed the panicking senior.

On the other hand, Mikasa noticed that Eren was supposed to be at the lab as well. Could it be something happened to him? But why wasn't she the one being called there?

Of course, Mikasa offered to follow them too but Hanji banned her from doing so, saying that she should focus on studying instead of worrying about Eren all the time.

Unsatisfied, however Mikasa could only obey. Deep down, she began cursing the blonde.

* * *

Hanji led Annie the way, but Annie had become suspicious.

"Excuse me…" she spoke up.

Hanji, who was walking a bit ahead of Annie, looked over her shoulder, her signature grin plastered on her face. Now Annie was sure that this wasn't as urgent as she implied before.

"Am I being tricked into something?" Annie asked in monotone.

The _senpai _chuckled and turned her head to face ahead again, "Not really. This is quite the emergency, actually. I can't ask help from the Student Council member especially Rivaille. I wanted to seek help from Mikasa but Eren banned me from doing so. He told me to get you instead!" she finished excitedly.

Behind her, Annie's brows furrowed.

"What happened to Eren, actually?"

Hanji didn't answer directly, instead, she slide the laboratorium door open. Annie's eyes widened dramatically at what she saw inside the room. It was quite the unbelievable thing but for some reason she believed what she saw.

Sitting there on the table was—

—an infant version of Eren Jaeger.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**This time's quiz will be a little hard to solve. But if you can put the hints together I'm sure you can give the right answer ;3**_

_**Alright, on to the question!**_

"_**Who is Annie's acquaintance?"**_

_**Good luck on solving the quiz~ See you again~**_


	9. Sister Complex

**Wow, it's been a while since I updated. I hope you guys aren't mad! DX**

**I've been sick this past two days and I still haven't recovered even now but I just have to update this as soon as possible.**

**Thank you **_**xxTurtlexx, Kroi Onee-san, Seraphicpapilion, Kuro-KuriKuri, Rinail, Shiina Yuki, MissingLink01, meshi-chan, Nancy Haibara, Guest, AisuRuhi, Batse, Yuki Meister, Iam Titania falls, Anti-Shadow Aigis, ca99oline, KushiNato, alex, Ailin, silentux131, Death Appraiser, Ayexia, inodesuyo, Anaid, guest, GhostlyScarletShip, Chuunibyou Yume, **_**and **_**Dinendir **_**for your reviews! I'm in love with you!**

**And congratulations to **_**Seraphicpapilion, meshi-chan, Nancy Haibara, Anti-Shadow Aigis, **_**and **_**GhostlyScarletShip**_**! Your answers for the previous quiz were correct! Here, have your cyber infant Eren plushie! **

**And for **_**guest, **_**thank you for telling me about my story being copied, but don't worry, I already gave my permission to the author for it **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

The school that morning was not particularly crowded, considering it was still very early. However, Eren had to go to school earlier than ever to avoid Mikasa's interrogation about him and Annie. And of course, he dragged Armin with him.

So now the two of them were taking a stroll around the school to kill time.

All seemed normal just before they heard an exploding sound from the laboratory. They quickly sprinted to the said room and opened its door, only to have the smoke escaped the place via the opened door.

"…Anybody here?" Armin asked, searching for any traces of people.

He heard someone coughed repeatedly and he also saw that person opening the windows to let the smoke out. When the smoke was cleared, both Eren and Armin could finally recognize the person. It was Hanji Zoë, the Student Council Secretary who had been awarded the best scientist in the school, exceeding every single science teacher presented.

"You saved my life by opening the door! Are you Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlert?" she chimed with a smile. Both of them nodded stiffly, surprised at how she managed to be so carefree after the commotions.

Hanji quickly leaned in to Eren and tapped her chin thoughtfully as she examined him from head to toe. A slightly perverted smirk danced on her lips and she pulled back, "You're just as Rivaille described, now that I look at you close up. You wear the face of someone who suffers this particular disease called acute sister complex!"

At the mentioning of Rivaille's name, Eren reacted. For some reason something told him that Hanji knew everything about the dinner plan, with her being one of Rivaille's closest friends. There was even a rumor spreading around about them living together.

She definitely knew something.

"Do you know about Rivaille-_kaichou_'s plans tonight, Hanji-_senpai_?" Eren inquired.

Hanji blinked innocently before nodding, "Of course! I know everything including the fact that Rivaille kept it secret from Mikasa that he wanted to introduce her to his dad and–"

"Wait, what!?" Eren cut in.

Armin was all confused about the conversation, though he understood some part of it since Eren had told him about it when asking for his help last night.

"I'm sorry, Armin. You can go back to the class ahead. I'll be following you soon, 'kay?"

Nervously, Armin nodded before excusing himself.

Once he made sure Armin was nowhere in sight, Eren turned to face Hanji again, demanding an explanation from her for what she had said just now. But the latter was squatting at the corner of the room, opening a what-seemed-to-be a personal one-door fridge full of soft drinks. She threw him a small bottle of soda and Eren frantically tried to catch it, succeeding in the attempt.

"Let's have a chat, then! It's been a while since anyone ever accompany me to talk here. Ah, except Moblit, okay? But he hasn't come to school this early. And sometimes, when he's in a good mood, Rivaille stopped by and we…"

Eren kept listening to Hanji's long ramblings while opening the cap of the soda bottle in his hands. It was surprisingly easy. It seemed the seal was detached beforehand. When he brought the drink to his mouth and gulped it down, however, Hanji's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. She rose from her seat and quickly reached for the bottle but it was too late.

White steam emitted from Eren's body and completely blinded the view.

And when the steam subsided, all Hanji could see was an infant in his oversized high school uniform, blinking innocently.

Eren opened his mouth, "Wha–"

"GYAAAH!" Hanji screamed hysterically, both her palms at the sides of her head. But she quickly secured the baby in her arms while muttering, "It's okay, Hanji, this is not your fault, this is _completely _an accident. You can explain everything slowly and you won't get your ass spanked by Rivaille. Breathe in, breathe out…"

"You sound like a grade-schooler, Hanji-s_enpai_!" Eren commented.

"Wha–Eren, you can talk smoothly? I guess you're the same Eren inside, then? This is making me curious… Sonny's personality changed when he turned into a cub…" Hanji tapped her chin.

"Do something to return me to normal!"

"Worry not. Every curse wears out in the midnight. Isn't Cinderella a wonderful fairy tale?"

"Stop playing around, _senpai_! I need to spy on Mikasa tonight!" Eren hit his small hands on the table repeatedly and it made Hanji thought of how cute he was as an infant. "That's right! Call Annie here! She needs to know my condition."

"Roger that!" Hanji put her hand over head forehead dutifully before storming out of the room.

Eren sighed. This was not the best turn-of-events.

* * *

**Chapter 9. Sister Complex**

* * *

Annie was torn between her debt to Eren for playing a huge role in getting her and Reiner and Bertholdt back together, and the useless senior beside her. She was reminded of her father's words to always choose the best decision.

Eren needed her help and it was her chance to pay him back. But taking a baby to a high-class restaurant for dinner was far too ridiculous of a sight.

And Hanji-_senpai _was so useless she had no advice other than waiting until midnight since she couldn't help because she had to attend an important science seminar tonight.

Sighing, Annie finally took the obvious decision.

"I'll help you out. I hate to break promises."

Infant Eren's huge green eyes sparkled in happiness and Annie had to narrow her eyes to avoid getting her eyes burned by the blinding scene.

"Thanks, Annie, I owe you one!" he chimed.

"No, you don't. I'm paying you back, that's all."

With Hanji's help, Eren and Annie finally got the permission to leave early. Annie had decided to buy Eren some baby clothes before bringing him to her apartment. The blonde had to receive some awkward stares and whispers from the neighborhood ladies before reaching her apartment but she managed to ignore them.

Eren gaped at how decent Annie's living was.

When she mentioned that she lived alone and had to work to cover for her living expenses, Eren thought that she was really low of money. But her apartment was even bigger than him and Mikasa's.

Eren ran childishly to the couch and jumped onto it while laughing happily.

Annie's lips slightly pursed before her phone suddenly received a call. "Hello? I have an urgent matter and I have to rush home… What? No, don't come. Tell Bertholdt not to worry, too… I'm fine, seriously. You're not my mom! I'm hanging up!" Annie put her phone on the kitchen counter and messaged her temple.

"Was it from Reiner?" Eren asked, his chin resting on the back rest of the couch.

Annie nodded.

Eren gave a smug look.

Annie glared.

* * *

That night might be the most embarrassing moment in Annie's life. She had to ride a taxi, got on an elevator, and entered a high-class restaurant _while _holding a baby. She didn't even want to begin guessing what people were thinking of her.

One of the waitresses at the entrance approached Annie and asked her about the reservation she had made.

"Yes. I reserved a place under the name of Hanji Zoë."

Eren snapped his head up at Annie in surprise. _Annie's acquaintance is Hanji-senpai?_

He had no idea that they were acquainted at all.

But now that he thought of it. He remembered Annie saying something about her acquaintance being busy today and had canceled the dinner plan. And he had also heard Hanji-_senpai _mentioning about attending an important science seminar tonight.

And for some reason, the waitress frantically bowed to Annie and allowed her to proceed.

Annie made her way further inside and arrived to the main room. The ceilings were high and the place was covered in white wallpapers.

However, Annie completely blended in. She was wearing a white dress that reached her knee, white boots and white choker. On her golden locks was a daisy hair ornament–she held her hair up the usual style. The only thing about her that didn't fit the situation was the fact that she was holding an infant.

"I don't understand how the system here works. I had a reservation but I couldn't find a table. They told me to sit wherever I want." Annie said as she wandered around. "This is really embarrassing. If your hypothesis about Mikasa dating someone is just a misunderstanding I'm seriously going to kill you…" she whispered.

"I'm gonna be so relieved if it's all just a misunderstanding…"

Annie narrowed her eyes at Eren, "Are you sure you're not just suffering from sister complex? You made such a big deal out of Mikasa dating someone–"

"Look! That's them!" Eren's small finger pointed at a table near the windows.

Sitting there were Rivaille and Mikasa who seemed to have started eating.

"Find a seat near them!" Eren wailed.

"Easy for you to say, can't you see all the tables are occu–"

"…Annie-_chan_?"

Annie turned to the source of the voice and her eyes widened at the familiar person. The woman was smiling at her as though she had found her long-lost daughter.

Eren observed the blonde woman. She looked young and beautiful, like a model. And behind her was the well-known class representative, Reiner Braun.

Annie was still gaping, as though trying to find the best word to say.

But before she could say anything, she was welcomed by a tight hug.

"I knew it was you from a glance! It's been a while, darling!" the woman cheered. "How have you been? You've grown up to be such a beauty! Oh God, you should have lived with our family instead, you know? I kept telling Reiner to ask you to live with us but he was too shy!"

"…Mom!" Reiner looked flustered.

Eren was baffled but then he shook it off without saying anything when he saw a small smile made its way to Annie's lips. Just as Reiner had said, it seemed Annie was quite fond of Mrs. Braun.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rivaille and Mikasa were almost done consuming the hot pot. Rivaille's chopsticks reached to the last piece of meat in the bowl but Mikasa's eyes sparked as she quickly reached for the meat as well. Both their chopsticks clipped the meat and their eyes met, emitting sparks.

"I set my eyes on this before you did, brat." Rivaille muttered, his eyes dark.

"Be considerate and let me eat this. We both know that you can always order a new one." Mikasa countered calmly.

"Oh? Are you still sulking about your brother dating a girl? Stop being childish, Mikasa, you're a high school student now. Be wise and let go of the _goddamned _meat."

"I refuse. _You _let go."

"You're getting on my nerve, Mikasa. _Let go._"

Fire lit up around the two as they refused to give in. Rivaille could never get used to Mikasa in her bad mood. She did what she could to annoy him in order to please herself.

* * *

Back to Annie, Eren had decided for them to sit with the Brauns since it would cease unnecessary suspicions from others, too. As Annie took a sit, her heart was pumping hard, waiting for Mrs. Braun to question her about the infant Eren. Her brain was spinning, trying to find the best thing to say. What could possibly cause a high school girl to eat dinner in a high class restaurant with a baby?

They had sat at the table near Rivaille and Mikasa's under Eren's insistence. And when they had ordered their food, Reiner spoke up,

"Hey, Annie, whose kid is that? Don't tell me it's yours–"

And Reiner received a blow in the face. He could hear the cracking noise from his nose. The feeling was familiar to when Ymir punched him the day before.

"Not very sensitive, are you?"

"But, Annie! Why would you carry around a kid looking like Eren!? That's just so goddamned suspicious!" Reiner slightly shouted, holding his nose.

Afraid of his secret being busted, Eren quickly reached out his hands toward Annie while cooing, "Mamaa…"

Everyone at the table practically froze.

Annie eyed Eren from the corner of her eyes, "_What the hell do you think the situation has gotten into…?_" she whispered angrily at Eren, her glare piercing deep into him.

"_It can't be helped, alright? What if they know about me shrinking into an infant?_" Eren defended himself.

"_No one in their sane mind would ask "Did you shrink, Eren?", so casually!" _Annie gritted her teeth.

Before Eren could give Annie a retort, Mrs. Braun cut in, "Annie-chan, can I hold the baby?" She was extending her arms as though pleading Annie to hand the baby to her. Her eyes sparkled as if she was seeing her own grandson.

Annie gave a look to Eren and the infant nodded understandingly.

"What's his name?" Mrs. Braun asked happily.

"Ere–I mean, Eric!" Annie sweated at how she almost blown their cover.

"Eric? What a lovely name. Who named him?"

"His father, I guess…" Since Annie never heard from Eren who named him, she answered randomly.

"You guess?"

"No, I mean… Yes, his father named him."

Mrs. Braun gave her a reassuring nod and went to play with Eren.

Beside Annie, Reiner leaned in and whispered in her ear, "That kid seriously looks like Eren! Can you explain the situation or something? Cause I think I'm having a weird idea of it…"

"I'll explain everything when it's all over, okay? Now is not the time…" Annie whispered back in a very serious tone.

When Annie turned back to face Mrs. Braun, she saw the woman doing upsy-daisy to Eren. Nothing was wrong with the sight. But Annie noticed that Eren had stiffened. And then she noticed that Mikasa was looking their way.

Annie spontaneously widened her eyes and rose from her seat.

"Mom, can I have Ere–Eric back?"

"Why?"

Annie's eyes turned to focus on Mikasa, who seemed to have stood up from her seat and was approaching their table. Realizing that it was all too late, Annie stopped trying to get Eren back and went to face Mikasa.

"Fancy meeting here, Annie…" Mikasa was the first one to speak.

"Is that so?" Annie tried her best to sound indifferent.

"That baby…" Mikasa said while looking at the infant Eren who was hiding his face in Mrs. Braun's shoulder. "…looks suspiciously identical to Eren…" she finished in a low voice, her obsidian orbs narrowing dangerously. Even Annie could feel her legs slightly trembling at it.

"What are you trying to say?" Annie managed to keep her cool.

"_Who _is that baby?" Mikasa asked in a chilling voice.

_I'm sorry Eren but I can't keep this going anymore_, Annie mentally said while calmly closing her eyes. She inhaled and then opened her mouth, "That baby is Er–"

"…Mamaa!"

Both Annie and Mikasa practically froze at the voice.

Infant Eren was waving his arms in attempt to reach for Annie and he was wearing a face that said he didn't want Mikasa to know anything about this. Annie gave him a troubled look, trying to tell him that there was no point in expanding the misunderstanding any longer.

Just when the two of them were talking without words, Mikasa was already lifting a knife from a random table. When Annie noticed, she jerked away in reflex.

"Oi, calm yourself, Mikasa. You know what's going to happen if you make a scene here."

Mikasa turned around.

It was Rivaille, who had left their table to stop Mikasa from whatever stupid thing she was going to do. He knew more than everyone how she would lose her cool whenever her foster brother was related. There's no doubt Mikasa could even start rampaging or even killing the poor Annie Leonhardt on the spot.

"I couldn't care less! This girl–" she pointed at Annie with the knife "–had made a clone of Eren! This could only mean she's _really _fond of him! I'll never forgive her!"

The second she finished her sentence, Reiner choked, Rivaille lifted a brow, and Annie went "Huh?"

Annie spoke up after a moment of silence, "…Mikasa, what are you–"

"You're making a fool out of yourself, Mikasa. You're supposed to say that they had done _that _and a baby was born as a result…" Rivaille said with a straight face, as though what he just said was the most obvious thing in the world.

_You're not helping at all, mister!_ Annie froze.

"Done what?" Mikasa asked.

"You seriously didn't know? I'm talking about sex here. Look, you just made me utter a rude word."

"What's that?"

"Ask your biology teacher or Hanji. On second thought, ask Hanji. She's going to have you understand it in an hour."

"I'll do that."

"Good."

Annie was grateful that Mikasa was successfully distracted by that talk just now. But soon she would have to face Mikasa's rage again. She looked at Reiner and his mom who seemed to be very curious of the issue. Fortunately, not everyone in the restaurant paid attention to them, if not, Annie couldn't even start imagining how embarrassing of a situation she had put herself in.

While she was looking at their table, she noticed that Eren was no longer in Mrs. Braun's arm. She started looking around and found him walking slowly toward Mikasa, who was still talking with Rivaille. She saw him pulling the edge of Mikasa's knee-length skirt slowly and Mikasa's attention shifted to him.

"Mikasa!" he said childishly. He still didn't want Mikasa to know everything.

Mikasa squatted and tilted her head at him, "How did you know my name?" she asked.

Eren beamed and stretched out his hands to her, asking for her.

She didn't seem to understand, for she only looked at him, puzzled.

"He's asking for you to hold him." Annie told the black-haired girl. Mikasa looked at Annie and she nodded at the supposedly genius girl.

A tinge of blush lingered on her cheeks as Mikasa put her hands at Eren's sides and lift him up, being all nervous because this was the first time she had hold a baby. He hugged her face and laughed. A smile unconsciously formed on her lips.

"You can take him home."

"I can?" Mikasa look at Annie, wide-eyed.

Annie nodded.

"But–"

"He wants to go with you. Besides, he's not mine."

Mikasa looked at Eren again and he smiled at her. She nodded to herself, convincing herself that the baby was the one who wanted it. She was just being nice by granting him his wish.

Turning to Rivaille, Mikasa excused herself, "I will be leaving for now, _kaichou._"

As she walked away, Rivaille saw the baby smirking at him in victory. Rivaille's brows furrowed when he saw the baby stuck out his tongue at him as though referring to him as a loser. Then it struck him. Hanji had done an experiment like this once. He tested it on Sonny, her pet wolf, which was kept at his old house. That time, Sonny shrank and turned back into a cub.

His expression turned dark as he muttered one name, "Hanji…" he cracked his knuckled as he made his way out of the place.

That girl would have her ass spanked endlessly tonight.

Annie sighed in relief at how the problem was over. She went back to sit at the Brauns' table.

"What was that, Annie? That Mikasa was goddamned frightening just now." Reiner said.

"Just some misunderstandings. Don't worry."

Not long later, their orders came and they began eating while chatting. Mostly, Annie was just answering Mrs. Braun's questions about how she was doing this past six years. But for her, it was a very warming and long-awaited reunion.

* * *

Rivaille opened the door to his apartment with a slam. He quickly went to the living room but could only find Irvin there, watching a variety show alone. He went to the bathroom but found no one. He searched all over the place but couldn't find Hanji anywhere.

His last resort–was her room.

On the door of her room, there was a plank with "Do not disturb" words on it.

He smirked. She always put that sign whenever she was trying to prevent him from entering her room. And in this case, the reason was clear. It was because she messed up and made someone drink one of her weird experimental drugs again.

First, he slowly knocked the door.

An answer came from inside, "Is that you, Rivaille? You're home early. I'm sorry but I'm feeling unwell so I can't come out for, like, forever. Cough, cough…"

"Open the goddamned door or I swear I'll tell the people in the house to get rid of Sonny and Bean for good. Chicacchironi and Albert, too."

In merely several milliseconds, the door was opened urgently.

"How could you do such heartless thi–"

"Good, you opened the door…"

Realizing her recklessness, Hanji gave a smile and bowed before trying to close the door again, but Rivaille used his foot to prevent it from closing.

"Excuse me, Rivaille-_san_, but your foot is troubling my closing the door, so… can you, like, do me a favor and–" she pulled the handle harder "–get the hell out of here, I'm begging you!" she shouted.

At the living room, Irvin shook his head and smiled understandingly. This was not a rare occasion.

* * *

When Mikasa entered the house, she noticed that the lights were still off.

"Eren's not home yet. Where is he…?" Mikasa sounded sad.

She went to the bedroom and placed baby Eren on top of the bed before falling on her knees. Eren was slightly shocked at Mikasa's sudden action. She rested her head on the edge of the bed. Her breaths were slightly heavy. Eren used his small hand to check on her temperature and she was a bit too warm for his taste.

Mikasa held his small hand and smiled, "Don't worry, I'm just feeling a little unwell…" she ressured him. "You know what? Whenever Eren's not here, I feel sick I can die. I haven't seen him at all today. We had a fight this morning and I haven't seen him ever since… I wonder if he's still mad…" she muttered.

Eren could only look at her. _So she's feeling that guilty…_

Mikasa buried her face in the bed, "What if he ran away and won't return forever? Then I might as well kill myself tomorrow…" Her voice was muffled but it was clear enough for Eren to grasp.

In reflex, Eren hit her head, hard.

Mikasa brought her head up to face the infant, looking puzzled.

Eren's brows knitted.

For some reasons, Mikasa smiled. "Right. I shouldn't talk like this in front of a child. Then… want to listen to my story about Eren?" her eyes slightly sparkled when she mentioned Eren's name.

But infant Eren shook his head.

"Eh? What do you want to talk about, then?"

Mikasa observed as the infant's small index finger pointed at her. His expression was cute but demanding. "Me?" Mikasa asked.

He nodded quickly.

"About me? Hmm… I can't think of a thing to say…" she murmured under her breath.

_What's wrong with this girl? She can't even talk about herself?_ Eren mentally rolled his eyes.

"I know. I'll tell you something I keep secret from Eren, then."

…_A secret from me? _Eren tilted his head. _Don't tell me it's about her dating Rivaille-_kaichou_!? _

Mikasa crawled up to the bed and sat beside Eren while looking at him. "I'm actually working part-time as a model."

Eren's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

"I didn't want Eren to know because he once told me that he doesn't like girls who work as a model since they look like whores, exposing their skin like that." Mikasa continued. "I won't deny that. Maybe I'm the same as those whores. I did everything for the money. I even overworked myself. But one day, if I'm no longer here, I want Eren to have a decent life. I saved that money for him to use for his life…"

Eren was quiet.

"You know, little guy? Eren has a big dream. He said that he would change this world someday. And I'm going to support him until he can reach it, using everything I have."

Eren widened his eyes, both taken aback and touched.

As Mikasa continued talking about her job, Eren finally learned that she wasn't actually dating Rivaille, instead, he was like a manager to her. He obediently listened to her as she told him many of her experiences when he wasn't there beside her. All of a sudden, he noticed that he hadn't been that attentive to her as she was to him.

All she was thinking about was his well-being, nothing else. Despite not being a blood-related sister, Mikasa's care for him was genuine and sincere.

And as Mikasa continued to talk, Eren didn't notice that the clock had reached midnight.

When he had realized it, however, it was already far too late. His body was burning and he could feel his own clothes shrinking and was restricting his body with force. He could hardly notice Mikasa's change of expression from calmness to shock. Before he knew it, the clothes that had been covering his body were no more.

And he was back to normal.

"Shit!" was the first thing coming out of his mouth.

Mikasa was only staring at him with her mouth agape. She was a very calm and collected person, yes, but this was _way _beyond her. The baby from several seconds earlier was now Eren.

"…E, Eren…?" she muttered, still staring at him.

Eren quickly covered his crotch in reflex, "What are you doing!? Cover your eyes or something!" he shouted.

At that, Mikasa's eyes widened in realization, "Oh… Oh!" then she turned around and covered her eyes.

Eren quickly ran to the bathroom after taking some clothes with him.

That night, Eren slept at the living room. Both he and Mikasa were too embarrassed to face each other now. With Mikasa exposing her secrets to the person she was keeping it from and Eren being seen stark naked in front of Mikasa.

And that night, none of the two managed to sleep a wink.

_-TO BE CONTINUED-_

* * *

_**Anyway, have you guys watched **_**Shingeki no Kyojin: School Life **_**on youtube? I checked it out under the recommendation of **_**meshi-chan **_**and I didn't regret it one bit! I love the song used in that video! The title is **_**Kawaranai Mono**_** by **_**Oku Hanako **_**and after I did some research, I discovered that it was a song from a popular Japanese film, **_**Toki o Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)**

_**Because of the song, I decided to add some angst to this story near the end, but don't worry, this story will have a happy ending ;)**_

_**And for today's quiz… Hmm… It's not going to be a quiz today, I'll just ask you a question :3**_

"_**What are your favorite pairings in Shingeki no Kyojin?" Tell me **_**all **_**of them, okay?**_

_**See you next time~**_


	10. Her Smile

**Did I make you wait, readers? :3**

**Thank you **_**Dinendir, sparkling apples, Guest, Ayexia, Seraphicpapilion, Brkth99, Nancy Haibara, meshi-chan, Kuer, Scavirr Smilee, princess yaminara, DontOpenTheBox, Alexnoel1422427, Chuunibyou Yume, Death Appraiser, HayaaShigure-kun, hamchan, anime-hq-12345, electricangel12, BlackDesires, Shiina Yuki, Iam Titania-falls, MissingLink01, ca99oline, Urdu, I love you, BloodseekerX, alex, Kenshin El, Ryvius, Mysterious, Iwai-chan, animeloverforeverjapan, Christa1910, Anti-Shadow Aigis, Quantum Warrior, alice, M, silentux131, Oklahom474, creativeactive, Forneverworld, Leavian, Wintersia, Kevin, **_**and**_** EmpressAl **_**for reviewing the previous chapter. I'm seriously beyond happy to see how many reviews I got for chapter 9 despite how bad I think the chapter is. **

**I especially present this chapter for my beloved onii-chan, **_**Death Appraiser**_**! Read this and cheer up, onii-chan :3**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

It was his first time seeing it, but he was beyond amazed.

Eren observed as Mikasa moved her body gracefully. The word _nervous_ didn't seem to be crossing her mind at all. Her skirt, made with light material, looked as though it was dancing as she made a soft twirl. In contrast to her calm and graceful movements, the camera was taking every one of her movements in an extremely fast pace, as though it did not want to miss any second of her beautiful figure.

For a while, Eren forgot how to breathe.

He had never looked at her as more than a worrywart who kept pestering him about every single thing he did; a sister who acted more like an annoying mother.

But the Mikasa here was a beautiful girl and everyone's precious idol.

* * *

**Chapter 10. Her Smile**

* * *

Rivaille sighed roughly as he left the office.

He was supposed to take Mikasa for a photo shoot this noon, but the requirement for this job was a little hard to grant. And he was torn between the hard requirement and the high pay. However, to be honest, he had always thought that Mikasa's lack in this part was a bit troublesome. But that girl was not someone who could show much expression either.

And he thought that was supposed to be her signature; her _coolness._

However, he was wrong. A model needed to be capable of expressing herself.

As he made his way out of the building, an idea struck him. Apparently, it was something Mikasa had told him once before.

But before he could start anything, he received a message from Mikasa.

_Due to unexpected turn-of-events, I decided to quit modeling. Thank you very much for taking care of me until now, _kaichou.

* * *

The bell rang and Mikasa trotted slowly to the front door before opening it. She gasped and made an attempt to close the door immediately after she saw the person behind it. And the person, having experienced this event numerous times before, placed his feet to prevent the door from closing.

A competition started at the doorstep.

"Open the goddamned door, Mikasa. Did you catch Hanji's habit?"

"I am not opening the door. Not before you get taller!"

Mikasa was trying to imply that she would _never _open the door, but Rivaille seemed to get the wrong idea. And from that insult, he gained power. Using all his strength –and anger– he pushed the door and successfully open it.

Mikasa almost fell over from being pushed but she quickly regained her balance before glaring at the man.

Rivaille kicked the door close before narrowing his eyes at Mikasa, "You didn't fucking give me a reason, brat. Did you by chance expect me to approve of it just like that?" he growled.

Mikasa was silent. Her obsidian orbs reflecting something he had seen once before. It was something he saw when she told him about Eren dating Annie Leonhardt. He was expecting that Mikasa's sudden resignation was caused by Eren as well.

"Is it Eren again?" he asked coldly yet filled with concern.

With her head hung low, Mikasa nodded.

"What happened now?"

Mikasa seemed to be hesitant to tell him but she did so after all. She just needed a place to let it all out and she didn't feel like telling her friends.

"I accidentally told him about my job…" she said in a low voice.

'_Must be when he was in his infant form and you, oblivious as you are, told him everything...'_ Rivaille mentally rolled his eyes.

She looked down until her bangs shadowed her eyes, "He hates me now… He had already run off somewhere when I woke up this morning."

Rivaille sighed at how much Eren's action could affect Mikasa.

Mikasa's lack of controlling her emotions when it came to her only family was also troublesome. Sometimes Rivaille felt he had to teach that immature brat a lesson and stop him from making Mikasa worry over him 24/7. But the problem also lied on Mikasa's fundamental thoughts about Eren being her only family and that she _had _to protect him at all costs.

Sighing again, Rivaille put his palm behind Mikasa's head and pulled her closer, placing her forehead on his shoulder, before stroking the back of her head to soothe her. He was quite surprised by the fact that she didn't fight back at all.

"The brat will return when he's done with being childish," Rivaille muttered.

She nodded softly.

"You should stop being childish as well and go get ready for work."

There was a short pause before Mikasa pulled back and nodded at him with her expression still a little grim. Mikasa made her way to her room to get changed while Rivaille took a seat in the living room. While waiting for Mikasa, Rivaille observed the relatively small living room. There were considerable amount of pictures of Eren and Mikasa in their childhood. Some of the pictures also consisted of their parents; Grisha and Carla Jaeger.

He noticed that no matter in which picture, Mikasa was always dressed modestly. He assumed that she dressed like that regardless of the season.

'_You can't blame the brat for going against you being a model, Mikasa. You expose more skin than you ever did in your whole life…'_ Rivaille thought.

Continuing to browse the pictures, Rivaille's eyes widened when he saw a certain picture. It was a small picture placed on the small table beside the couch. Despite being an ordinary picture of Eren and Mikasa, what stood out from that picture was the fact that Mikasa was _smiling._

Before Rivaille could get a better view of the picture, Mikasa came out from her room, wearing a set of more formal clothes. In reflex, she saw Rivaille's hand that was about to grab the picture frame on the small table.

She lift up her red scarf to hide the tint of blush crossing her cheeks, "You saw that…" she muttered.

Rivaille quickly pulled his hand and rose from his seat. Clearing his throat, he spoke up, "Excuse me for that. But I mean, that picture is displayed so I think there's nothing wrong for me to look at it, is there?"

She shook her head, "No, I was just embarrassed…"

"You can get embarrassed? That's new to me."

She glared at him before whipping around, "Come on, we're going to work, right?" she said as she stomped toward the front door.

Rivaille took a glance at the picture one last time before following up.

'_You should smile more often…'_

* * *

"Pink one-piece and a straw hat?"

"Typically summer, isn't it?"

"Mikasa in pink sounds a bit off."

"I don't mind…"

Mikasa said in the middle of the debate. The dress was supposed to have been chosen before she came, right? Why did they have to start arguing now of all time?

"Besides, I wear pink when I was small."

"Oh, really? We'd love to see that!"

"Young Mikasa in pink!? I think I'm going to have a nosebleed."

Mikasa sighed as the topic changed from clothes argument to her younger self in pink. She knew that they would all shut up when the photo shoot started anyway so she decided to leave them be.

She walked around but couldn't find Rivaille anywhere.

Soon, the photo shoot started without Rivaille being found. But since his presence wasn't crucial, no one bothered to look for him.

"Smile, Mikasa!"

"…Eh?" Mikasa blinked.

"Don't wear that face. Smile, girl!"

Rivaille didn't tell her anything about her having to smile. She froze for a while, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at her intently. Just as she opened her mouth to speak up, the door opened.

"Sorry for the wait."

It was Rivaille.

He was bringing someone with him.

Mikasa's eyes widened.

That person nervously scratched the back of his head before deciding to look at Mikasa. He inhaled before shouting, "Do your best, Mikasa!"

Slightly taken aback, Mikasa's cheeks reddened in both embarrassment and happiness. She made a single nod before facing the camera again. This time, her lips pursed slightly. Did it mean Eren had forgiven her? Had he finally approved of her work?

She smiled in relief before she continued her poses.

Smiling, Eren continued observing her moves. She looked beautiful this way.

Simply the sight of her rare smiling face spread a weird feeling in his heart. And, being too occupied with watching her, Eren never noticed how Rivaille's expression also changed.

It was his first time seeing Mikasa smiled in person.

Despite his unwavering expression, Rivaille's mind drifted off thinking about how fascinating Mikasa's smile was.

* * *

Eren walked around, trying to find Mikasa's changing room. Rivaille told him the way but it was still quite difficult to find considering how many rooms this building had.

He stopped when he saw a room with Mikasa's name hung on the door.

_This is the room_, he thought as he spun the doorknob.

Opening the door, Eren gaped at what he saw inside. He stopped breathing for a couple of seconds before the black-haired girl turned around. Her slender body and her pale white skin exposed under broad daylight, however, she didn't seem bothered by it at all. Her expressionless eyes looked into his green ones calmly, as though ignoring the fact that she was only clad in her undergarments.

"…Eren?" she called her name.

He didn't reply.

"…Eren… are you still mad, after all?" her voice trailed off as she hung her head.

Snapping out of it, Eren quickly shook his head. "No, I'm not mad! What the hell, Mikasa? Can't you at least try to cover your body? We're not kids anymore!" he shouted while looking away.

Mikasa blinked slowly before she finally got what he meant, "Ah… You're bothered by my body, Eren? I'm sorry if my body is not the best out there, I'll wear my clothes now–"

Mikasa felt someone pulling her wrist. She made a motion to turn around, but Eren's arms were already caging her from behind. From his slightly trembling arms, Mikasa knew that he was bothered with touching her bare skin. She chuckled inside. Eren was still a kid after all.

"I didn't say anything about your body being ugly or anything. I'm just trying to remind you that we're not kids anymore. It's not the same as before, okay? Your body used to be so skinny and… not curvy…" he felts his cheeks heating up as he said the last line.

"I used to be sickly when I was younger, after all. I'm okay now, though… Aren't you glad I'm not skinny anymore?" she asked in a low voice.

Eren nodded.

He was reminded of how Mikasa used to be so weak and had to rely on him all of the time. He was both glad and sad at the same time. He was glad she needed him and relied on him but was also sad that she looked like she was suffering.

"Eren… are you against me being a model? If you do, I will–"

"No!"

"…Eh?"

"You can keep doing what you like, Mikasa. Rivaille-_kaichou _told me about how you enjoyed modeling. And after seeing what I saw just now I couldn't just tell you to quit. I'm just being too overprotective, it seems. You're a big girl now and I know you can decide for yourself. I used to complain whenever you're being too overprotective of me but it seems that I'm doing the same."

Mikasa blushed at Eren's words. Eren was being overprotective of her? She never expected that.

Without realizing it herself, Mikasa began to giggle.

"What are you laughing about? It's so embarrassing!"

"Nothing…" Mikasa shook her head. "Eren, can you wait outside? I'll wear some clothes and then we can walk home together."

"Okay," Eren nodded before releasing her and walked outside.

* * *

When Eren and Mikasa was about to leave the building, Mikasa insisted on meeting Rivaille first before going home and she went to find him without Eren.

Fortunately, she found him before he left.

"_Kaichou_."

Rivaille turned around.

"What is it, Mikasa? You haven't gone home?" he asked in monotone.

She shook her head before approaching him.

"It's you who brought Eren here, isn't it?" she asked.

There was a long pause before Rivaille opened his mouth to answer Mikasa, "If I bring him here and it ends your problem, you will continue working happily like before. But if my decision worsens the situation, you will quit even without my permission. It was a gamble, Ackerman."

Mikasa quietly listened to him.

"I bring him here hoping he would prevent me from losing you. You know how much this work meant to me."

Mikasa nodded, "It's okay, _kaichou_, I won't quit. It was irresponsible of me to say that I'll quit out of the blue. Forgive me," she bowed.

Giving Mikasa a single nod, Rivaille made his way to leave. However, Mikasa called for him again.

"_Kaichou_?"

"What now?"

"Thank you…" Mikasa smiled brightly.

Rivaille's eyes widened but he quickly turned around again. "It's not anything worth mentioning. I did it for my own benefits, after all."

"Yes." Mikasa said before leaving.

As Rivaille got on his car, he pondered. He got to see Mikasa's smile a lot today. On top of that, she even smiled for him.

_On second thought, you shouldn't smile too much, Mikasa…_

He stared at her retreating back before messaging his temple, groaning.

_It's too much…_

_-TO BE CONTINUED-_

* * *

_**You're allowed to kill me if this chapter is not as good as you expected DX**_

_**By the way, I want to ask for your permission to add some more sci-fi into this story. Do you mind? If most of you go against it, I will change my plan **_

_**See you next time~**_


	11. Mark of the Orientals

**Sorry for the wait, readers. Here is the eleventh chapter of My Genius Sister~**

**I seriously thought I won't be able to finish this chapter by today, because I had a bit of a writer's block lately. Thank goodness it's finished!**

**Thank you **_**Oklahom474, meshi-chan, Death Appraiser, Kuro-KuriKuri, RealmOfDawn, Dinendir, Shiina Yuki, Seraphicpapilion, Sunny Sonic, Ryvius, Ayexia, Wintersia, Nancy Haibara, ninjaco0kieXD, animeloverforeverjapan, Anti-Shadow Aigis, Sparkling Apples, Guest, creativeactive, silentux131, Midnight jcyclone, Anon, Nikka-Chan, hamchan, Christa1910, electricangel12, urbansniper605, Commander Kotori, Eh, Nana, artilyon-rand, Kenshin El, Situ, great chp, greg, wut, Marco, Dude, **_** and **_**Mika**_** for your reviews! I love them!**

**By the way, guys, since my exam is coming in a week, I am not sure if I can update while the exam is going. But don't worry, I almost finished chapter 12 by now so I'll try to update weekly as I**_**—**_**thankfully**_—_**did until now. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

The little girl was lying on the bed unconscious.

Beside her sat Grisha Jaeger, who had just finished treating the little girl's wound. Carla and Eren were both watching with grim.

"Honey, is she going to be okay?" asked Carla.

"Don't worry, Carla, the cuts aren't deep. However, she is bothered mentally rather than physically." Grisha made a sigh.

Eren kept quiet the whole time. He was still haunted by the incident that occurred just now. The fact that Mikasa hurt herself and even made an attempt to hurt him, he still couldn't really accept it. They got along really well these past few months. Did she not think of him as someone important at all? Did she not think of him as a family?

She attacked him without hesitation.

He held out his arm and looked at his wounded wrist_—_which was used to defend himself from Mikasa's attack.

"Dad, how do we prevent her from rampaging again?" Eren asked after a long silence.

Grisha looked at Mikasa's wrist_—_or to be precise, the mark on her wrist_—_before saying, "We have to make sure she can't see that mark. As long as she is reminded of that tragic day, she would continue to suffer from personality disorder."

Eren gave a firm nod.

"Eren, we are her family now. We have to be the ones to protect her, okay?" Carla said to her son.

Once again, Eren gave a nod.

He was going to protect her at all costs.

* * *

**Chap 11. Mark of the Orientals**

* * *

That morning, Mikasa was frantic.

She stood before the machine, her hand clutching the red fabric. Should she throw it inside? Or should she not? She was torn between the two options.

Beads of sweat began forming on her forehead and trailed down her cheeks.

Occasionally, her trembling hand made a motion to throw the object inside, but then she quickly pulled back. Her mind was a mess, and she couldn't think straight.

What should she do?

"Are you going to wash the damn scarf or not!? We're gonna be late for school!" Eren yelled.

She gritted her teeth and clutched her eyelids.

Eren had his patience worn out and decided to grab the scarf from Mikasa, but to his surprise, Mikasa didn't let go and instead, made an attempt to pull it. Not wanting to lose, Eren tightened his grip around the fabric and began to pull as well.

"You're going to tear it, Eren!"

"Then, let go!"

Mikasa shook her head frantically.

And it happened.

The sound of threads being snapped off could be heard as the red scarf was slowly torn into two. Mikasa's eyes widened along with the last moment of her most precious possession.

* * *

The Student Council room was quiet, for the President was busying himself with the reports from the students about broken equipments and club funds. The other members of the Student Council weren't present at the moment.

Except for one person…

"Hey, Rivaille. Come on, are you still mad? I'm sorry… I mean, you spanked my ass enough to release your anger, right? Seriously, I'm still having problems sitting normally, you know?" Hanji said while rubbing her buttocks. She was standing on her knees beside Rivaille's desk, her chin resting on the edge of the desk.

Rivaille completely ignored her.

"Hey, Rivaille~" she called him again, waving a hand over his face. "That's right! I'm going to receive my payment today! Our vacuum cleaner is broken, right? I'm going to buy you a new one," she smiled.

Rivaille turned to her.

Hanji smiled.

In a split second, Rivaille had his fingers pulling both her cheeks as hard as he could muster.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch! What the_—_Rivaille, it hurts! I mean, it hurts more than spankings! Seriously! Ouch, ouch! I give up, I give up!" Hanji screamed hysterically.

Stopping, Rivaille glared daggers at her. "Because of your unwise deed, I failed to inform Mikasa about my Father's plans. How are you going to take responsibility for this, eh, Hanji?"

Hanji tilted her head, "Eh? You're mad because of that?" then she rose from her position and pound her chest while wearing a smug smile. "I'm going to tell her in your stead, then!"

In a flash, Rivaille used his right hand to squeeze her face and lifted her from the ground, "This is a very serious matter, shitty glasses. If you anger me more than this I _swear _I'll kill your pets with my own two hands, you heard me?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Hanji's voice was muffled in Rivaille's hand.

In that situation, someone opened the door. It was Petra and Auruo. However, once they had learned the situation in the room, they bowed and excused themselves.

"Nooo! Don't gooo! Help me!" Hanji's hand reached toward them but they were already long gone.

* * *

Mikasa looked up to the space, her eyes hollow and her expression indescribable.

The girls looked at her in concern, especially Christa. They noticed the absence of the red scarf which was well-known for being Mikasa's treasure and had assumed that her unusual behavior had something to do with it.

"Mi-Mikasa… You look down. Do you care to tell us what happened?" Christa asked nervously.

As though Christa's question just now was merely a blow of wind, Mikasa completely ignored it. She was watching the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Christa looked at Ymir sadly and Ymir sighed.

As she spaced out, Mikasa reminisced about her past. The first time she met Eren and the moment she received her most treasured scarf.

.

.

_**Seven years ago…**_

.

.

Young Mikasa carefully stitched the white fabric, hoping that it would end up good for her first try. Her mother had taught her the way and she wanted to make her proud. This mark was the mark of her clan, after all. She had to do the embroidery carefully.

She smiled when she saw her right wrist. The mark of her clan had also been cut into her skin by her own mother. The ritual was undoubtedly painful but it was definitely worth it, for she could now proudly tell the world that she was a part of the Orientals. She brought her hand up and stared at her wrist again, fascinated by the mark.

"You seem excited, Mikasa. Doesn't your wrist hurt?"

Beside her, her Mother asked.

Mikasa shook her head, smiling. "This is the proof that I am your daughter, mom."

Her mother giggled and pinched her nose lightly, "You've been my daughter even before you have that mark, Mikasa." Then she reached for Mikasa's wrist before caressing it, "Once you have your own child, you have to make sure to give him or her this mark. You're the only one who can preserve the Oriental blood now, Mikasa…"

Mikasa nodded, but then she gave her mother an enigmatic look.

"How do you make a child, mom?" she asked almost too innocently.

Her mother, unable to find a word to say, turned to her father who was reading morning newspaper in the living room. "Mom doesn't really remember how. Do you care to explain everything to Mikasa, dear?" she asked the chuckling man.

"Dad?"

"Dad doesn't remember that much too, Mikasa. Come to think of it, Dr. Jaeger will pay a visit today, bringing his son along. You can ask him later."

"Hmm? Mom and dad seem to be avoiding my question."

Both parents suppressed a laugh at their daughter's smart retort. And not long after, they could hear the doorbell rang. Her dad went to answer the door and that second, she could feel her world turning upside down to the worst.

.

.

.

The next thing she remembered was the fact that she was lying on a cold floor, her wrists tied and her mouth gagged. She remembered her kidnapper talking about not killing her mother on purpose, and something about selling her to rich people since she was a rare Oriental, even though she was only half-blood.

She tried to move her body but it felt numb. It reminded her that they injected something to her a while before. She didn't bother to find out what it was.

Her eyes began to close.

It didn't matter anymore.

Her mom and dad were gone, so there wasn't any single reason for her to continue living in this merciless world.

When she had completely given in to her fate, she heard someone opening the door. It all happened too fast she could barely keep up. In a matter of seconds, two of her kidnappers were down, lifeless and bloody. She held her breath, both shocked and amazed at the same time, at the fact that her savior was a small boy her age.

Who was him?

As she continued wondering, he had already made his way toward her, releasing her wrists from the hard ropes, exposing her clan mark in the process.

"I'm Eren, Dr. Jaeger's son. You're Mikasa, aren't you?" he asked gently despite having killed two grownups barely a minute ago.

So he was Dr. Jaeger's son.

But she couldn't care less. It didn't matter who he was. She didn't plan to take any step out of this place so he should get out of here instead of bothering himself with her. Even if she were to get out of here, there was no place she could return to. Suddenly, the thought of rotting here and die sounded pleasing.

However, it struck her. There were actually three kidnappers.

"There's supposed to be three of them…" she said in a hoarse whisper.

As if on cue, the third kidnapper entered the room soon after she finished her sentence. Eren quickly reached for the knife he had used to kill the two other kidnappers, but it was too late. The third kidnapper caught him in a death grip around his neck and started yelling. Mikasa didn't know what to do. She herself didn't plan to continue living, but the boy had to survive. The boy had put his life on the line to rescue her. She had to do something for him in return.

"_Fight!_" she heard the boy said.

Picking up the abandoned knife, Mikasa rose from her spot.

The boy encouraged her to do it, but she was still too afraid. She had never done anything like this before. Killing wasn't something a normal human being should do. But then again, those kidnappers killed her parents. Why should she take pity on them?

_Kill._

Looking at the clan mark on her wrist, she started to feel her consciousness fading.

_Kill. Kill them. Without mercy._

Next, the boy's word that encouraged her to fight made everything happen. Mikasa kicked the wooden floor and jumped toward the kidnapper.

With a single blow, she ended his heartbeat.

.

.

.

After everything that happened, Dr. Jaeger agreed to adopt Mikasa into the family. That time, Mikasa found another reason to live. Could she start fresh again? Could she begin everything from zero again?

No, it was different. Her family was supposed to be only one.

Mikasa jumped when she felt something warm encircling her cold neck. She looked up at the person who gave her the warm fabric.

"You can have this…"

She gave him a puzzled look.

"It's warm, right?"

She blinked.

"What?" he asked her. Then she took her hand, "Come on, let's get going…" he gave her a firm look, "…to our home."

Her eyes widened. Slowly, hot tears began to form at the side of her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. She nodded,

"Home…"

.

.

.

"Mikasa! Hey, Mikasa!"

"Oh shit, she's not responding!"

"—_Somebody_, call the school nurse!"

"What? What happened?"

"Mikasa's not breathing!"

"Seriously!?"

When Mikasa woke up from her daydream and looked around, everyone in class 1-04 had started a ruckus. They were all surrounding her, even Shadis_-sensei._

"Mikasaaaaa! You're alive!" Sasha cried happily as she threw herself to Mikasa and gave her a bear hug.

Eren was among her friends, looking at her with an annoyed look, "What the hell were you doing, Mikasa!? You_—_you made me worried sick!" he shouted.

"Sorry…" she lowered her head. Her hand reached for the non-existent scarf around her neck but fell beside her again when she realized that the scarf was no longer present.

Eren then realized just how much the loss had affected her. Just what was so good about that old scarf anyway? He could always buy her a new one but she insisted on having that one.

Christa seemed to have sensed Mikasa's worries.

"Mikasa. If you really want that scarf only, why don't you sew it back?" she suggested.

Eren quickly opposed, "Hey, wait, you can't ask Mikasa to sew, she's going to_—_"

"Fuck off, Eren, Christa's trying to help here." Ymir said.

"That's right, Eren! Can't you see how happy Mikasa is? Just look at her face!" Sasha pointed.

True, Mikasa's eyes were sparkling like a five year old who was just told that she could buy any toy she wanted. Had she forgotten about what happened the last time she tried to sew?

"But…" Mikasa looked down again, "…I can't sew…"

"It's alright! I'll teach you!" Christa puffed her chest proudly and Ymir started praising her.

"We have home economics class today and we're doing sewing, right? What a coincidence," Sasha put her finger under her chin.

* * *

The third period was home economics. Students rose from their respective seats and moved to the home economics room, bringing their necessary equipment with them. Mikasa excitedly brought her torn scarf along and the girls happily walked with her, silently noting on how cute she looked when she was excited.

On the other hand, Eren looked unusually bothered.

She remembered the last time Mikasa tried to sew and it ended up in disaster. What ended up disastrous wasn't the thing she sewn, instead, it was the whole house. From that point on, Eren's father had told him that sewing reminded Mikasa of that day; the most traumatic day of her life, and that she might suffer from trauma that would affect her psychologically whenever she did something that reminded her of that day. She managed to prevent herself from rampaging after seeing her clan mark, but still, she hadn't gotten over with her trauma in sewing.

But since Mikasa was so eager to do this, maybe she had gotten over with that trauma?

As Eren continued thinking, he didn't realize that he had sat on one of the tables in the home economics room. Sitting besides him was Mikasa and sitting in front of her was Christa. Eren had heard Rico-_sensei _instructing them about how to knit. Mikasa was listening carefully to every word Rico-_sensei _had uttered.

"Alright now, start knitting, students."

And everyone began.

Most boys had problem doing it except for Armin and Bertholdt. Jean and Connie had started cursing when they accidentally cut their fingers when holding the needles. Reiner was having his own problems inserting the thread into the needle with his huge fingers while Bertholdt just smiled at him.

And Eren was gaping at how fast Mikasa was knitting.

"Mi-Mikasa? I thought you said you can't sew?" Christa asked, stuttering.

"Hmm…" Mikasa nodded.

Christa and Ymir exchanged puzzled looks before turning back at Mikasa. Seriously, they didn't call her a genius for nothing. How could she do everything just by listening to a few words from the teacher?

"—Ouch!"

Mikasa turned to her side and saw Eren cut his finger when trying to cut the thread. Almost immediately, she abandoned her half-done work and retrieved a band-aid from her pocket. Christa and Ymir observed as Mikasa wiped the blood and carefully covered Eren's cut.

"Here, done."

"Thanks."

"Be careful next time," Mikasa nodded before going back to her work.

Both Christa and Ymir cried in awe, making Eren and Mikasa tilted their heads at them in puzzlement.

Christa clapped her hands and her eyes sparkled, "Eren and Mikasa are so close! Are you two dating?" she asked excitedly, they could see something in her eyes… expectation?

"Of course we're close. We're siblings. Right, Mikasa?" Eren said.

Mikasa nodded almost too desperately, excited at the word 'siblings'. Eren hadn't said that word for a while now.

"But, but! You are not blood-related, right?"

"That's true, but we're close! We sleep together, and even bathe together when we were little! Right, Mikasa?"

Mikasa nodded quickly again, overly-excited.

On the other hand, an ear-to-ear grin made its way to Christa's lips. She held her hands over her mouth in excitement and her eyes sparkled even more. Then she cleared her throat, seemingly trying to suppress a squeal.

"Have you ever thought of deepening your relation_—_"

Before she could finish her sentence, Christa received a headbutt attack from Ymir who sat beside her.

"Auhh… What was that for, Ymir?" Christa whimpered while rubbing her head, a single tear forming at the corner of her eye.

"Stop asking them questions, you're not going to finish yours on time," Ymir said, pointing at Christa's barely-existing knitting with her chin.

"Oh my, that's right. Let's talk about this later." Christa smiled.

Eren shrugged and Mikasa nodded.

While sewing, Eren accidentally caught a glimpse of the mark on Mikasa's right wrist. His eyes widened. She forgot to wear something to hide it. Probably because she was too startled about what happened to her scarf. Eren wanted to tell her to hide it but if she noticed that mark, something might happen.

Should he just dismiss it and hoped that Mikasa wouldn't notice until the end of the day?

He shook his head, it was too risky.

"Oi, Mikasa, what's that on your right wrist? A tattoo?" Connie pointed out.

Eren cursed under his breath as he saw Mikasa shifted her gaze to her wrist. Almost too quickly, Eren grabbed her wrist to hide the mark.

"…Eren?"

"Err… Mikasa, let's go to the restroom!" he made up an excuse. At least he could lend her his wristband or something once they got out of here.

But his plan backfired as he could hear the cry of awe from everyone in the class.

"Gyahaha! What are you going to do with Mikasa in the restroom, Eren?" Connie laughed.

"Oi, oi, don't get horny all of a sudden, Eren…" Reiner teased, ignoring his messed-up knitting completely.

"I knew it! I knew you never saw Mikasa as a sister!" Jean got up from his seat.

"Eren, I never thought…" Armin gasped.

"Not you too, Armin! Calm down guys, this isn't anything you're thinking about!" Eren defended himself.

As everyone started teasing Eren, Mikasa seemed to have realized what he was trying to do. She removed his hand from her wrist before smiling reassuringly and hid her wrist with her sleeve for the meantime. "Do you have something I can use?" she asked him.

Eren nodded.

He continued his knitting and Mikasa tilted her head.

"Wait until I'm done with it…" he murmured under his breath, slightly embarrassed.

Realization hit her, and faint blush crept up to Mikasa's cheeks. Eren was trying to knit a bracelet for her. The feeling of happiness spread inside her as she held her hand and covered her mouth to suppress a giggle.

"I'll be waiting…" she said with a smile.

"Al-alright… Don't blame me if it's not well-made…" Eren whispered.

Mikasa shook her head, "Everything you give me is the best thing I could have owned…"

The two looked as though they were inside their own world they didn't realize the awkward stares directed at them. Jean had started biting his thumb in heavy jealousy and Marco reassured him, while Christa looked as though she was trying to prevent herself from squealing again.

* * *

That afternoon, Mikasa was riding Rivaille's car to a studio.

She held out her arm and stared at the red knitted bracelet circling her right wrist. The bracelet wasn't the best bracelet she had seen, but it was filled with Eren's feelings. Smiling to herself, she examined the red bracelet carefully. She could still see a small part of her clan mark but it was okay. She wanted to be stronger. By getting over with her trauma, she could get stronger.

"Remove your hand from my sight, Mikasa. Are you going to take responsibility if we got into an incident?" Rivaille stated in monotone.

"Tch," Mikasa clicked her tongue and glared at the man beside her before pulling her hand back. "Annoying midget…" she murmured under her breath.

"Pardon?" Rivaille asked despite knowing well what she had just said.

"Nothing," Mikasa threw her face away.

"Be sure to hide that mark with make-up or something. It's not something you can display freely to public."

"I know," Mikasa rolled her eyes.

* * *

Annie made her way to her shoe locker to change her shoes into the outdoor ones. However, besides her shoes there was a piece of paper.

No, it was a white envelope.

She examined both sides of the paper but found nothing written. She immediately knew who the sender was. No, it was not like she knew who the actual sender was. But she had been receiving the same letter again and again ever since she enrolled to high school.

She put it inside her bag and resumed her activity.

Little did she know that someone was watching her from behind…

_-TO BE CONTINUED-_

* * *

_**Unfortunately, there won't be any quiz for this chapter either. But I will be giving you a sneak peek for the next chapter~**_

_**Here it is!**_

**Chapter 12. Mysterious Letter**

**Reiner came in to give the class a notice.**

"**Guys, I believe you already know that mid-term exam starts the day after tomorrow. Study well and don't be disappointed because after the exam, we'll have our long-awaited culture festival!"**

**.**

**Annie rubbed her eyes and yawned, "I seriously don't care."**

**.**

"**What does Christa's dad do, anyway? He sure got a lot of connections."**

"**Maybe a mafia boss or something? Who cares?" Connie laughed heartily.**

_**.**_

"**Did you decide to drink milk so that you can get taller, Annie?"**

**At that, Annie spurted her drink.**

_**.**_

"**I opened it not long ago and I had the same reaction as you. Yesterday, I thought the content of the letter would be the same as usual so I didn't bother to open it. But… you know what it means, right?" Annie said, implying to the contents of the letter.**

**Bertholdt nodded**_**—**_**too bewildered to talk as he read the contents of the letter.**

_**Stay tuned, and see you next week! XD**_


	12. Mysterious Letter

**At last! Exam is over! Hallelujah! XD**

**Turns out my mathematics exam is bound to fail so I'm gonna forget about it (since there's still a remedial test *teehee*) and update this fic! Keep the reviews coming and cheer me up, my lovely readers! DX**

**Thank you **_**meshi-chan, Dinendir, Commander Kotori, Sparkling Apples, Oklahom474, Leavian, Christa1910, R Jaeger, Brkrth99, Shiina Yuki, VarilSk1, Monica, Ayexia, artilyon-rand, animeloverforeverjapan, Seraphicpapilion, Putting on Airs, HighQueen, inodesuyo, xEXOdicted, creativeactive, gracelovesgaga, silentux131, Nancy Haibara, AppleberryCookie, alex, Death Appraiser, HungerGamesEnthusiast, Shizza24, Elavan-x, Guest, chai, and Kuro-KuriKuri**_**! I'm crying in joy! Keep the reviews coming! :'D**

**By the way, since I'm updating this fic in the middle of the night, via a friend, and while having a fever, I don't really have time to proof-read this chapter. If there are MANY typos and grammar errors, please forgive me! m(_ _)m**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin  
**

* * *

Annie went to her bedroom and opened her drawer. Inside the drawer, there were numerous identical white envelopes. She had started to wonder who the sender of the letters was. The letters always had the same contents and the words inside were printed so she could never guess who wrote them.

As she rolled about on her bed, her phone vibrated.

Opening the message she received, her eye twitched in annoyance at the contents.

_Remember tomorrow we'll be having physical examination period. We'll see how much you grow this year *snickers*_

_-Reiner_

She threw her phone and went to the kitchen to drink some milk.

* * *

**Chapter 12. Mysterious Letter**

* * *

It was a typical day at class 1-04, as Reiner came in to give the class a notice.

"Guys, I believe you already know that mid-term exam starts the day after tomorrow. Study well and don't be disappointed because after the exam, we'll have our long-awaited culture festival!"

Everybody cheered.

However, the mid-term test was just around the corner, and Eren had decided to start increasing his studying hour. He tried to solve some calculus problems but had trouble doing it. He messed his hair in frustration. But he had sworn he would never ask for Mikasa's help. His goddamned pride just wouldn't let him.

His dream was to change the world's rule and to protect the weak. His father once told him that if he's good at his study, he could do practically anything in the future. Slowly, he would stand on top of the world.

And his dream for now was to join the Student Council, which held the highest authority in the school.

"Yo, Eren, what's up dude?" Reiner greeted him, interrupting his inner thoughts.

"Oh. It's you, Reiner. I'm trying to solve these problems…"

"Where? Show me," he said as he leaned in to read the problem. After a couple of seconds, he took Eren's pencil and wrote him the answer. "Here, you put this value here. And with this formula, you can solve it in no time. And also, you made a counting mistake here."

Eren blinked in amazement.

With Mikasa being called a genius and all, he had almost forgotten that Reiner ranked second in the entrance exam. He was second only to Mikasa. And Eren started thinking back again, the fact that he ranked fifth meant he had to beat the other three to reach Mikasa. Those three were: Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie.

But before he could beat those three, he had to learn their way of studying first.

"Reiner!"

"Huh?"

"How do you study? I mean, you ranked second, right? But you didn't seem to study that much."

Reiner blinked then scratched his cheek nervously, "This is a funny reason. Promise me you won't laugh."

"Alright."

"I just thought I have to be better than Bert and Annie. I study like crazy at home, you know? I do at least a hundred problems!"

"…Huh?"

"Well, what I'm saying is… those two had always been good at studying. But you see, I'm supposed to be the big brother for them so I did my best to beat them in high school."

"So it means you weren't that smart in you earlier years?"

"Sort of. But it doesn't mean I'm stupid, okay!? I'm just no better than them."

Eren nodded understandingly. So Reiner's key to get a high rank was his determination as a big brother role for Bertholdt and Annie, plus, doing at least a hundred problems.

_That's kinda crazy…_

* * *

"Eh? My studying method…?" Bertholdt asked.

Eren nodded.

Bertholdt knitted his brow, thinking hard. Next, he smiled apologetically, "I think I only listen to the teacher's lecture and then try to do it on my own at home. Listening to teachers is the best way to study, I guess…" he said.

Eren let out a disappointed sigh. He paid attention to the teacher's lecture too, of course. But he couldn't be as good as Bertholdt.

_So I guess it's the matter of brains, after all…_

Eren assumed that Bertholdt was certainly smarter than Reiner, who probably needed to pull an all-nighter whenever exam was coming.

* * *

Eren looked around for Annie and found her sleeping at her desk, burying her face in her arms. She was sitting next to the window, causing the sunlight shone at her, spoiling her with its comfy warmth. Now that he recalled, Annie used to sleep a lot in class, too. But most of the time, the teacher didn't notice her doing it.

"Oi, Annie." Eren shook her softly.

He could hear a soft groan before Annie rose from her position and glared at him, "What do you want?" she asked coldly.

Eren gulped at her scary face. He noted to himself to never wake her up when she's napping next time.

"Err… I just want to ask you about your studying method. You know, exam is in two days, right?"

Annie rubbed her eyes and yawned, "I seriously don't care."

Blinking, Eren spoke up again, "What? I mean, you ranked fourth, didn't you? How did you manage to score that high without studying? Did you pay attention to the teacher's lectures?"

"You're in the same class as me. You should know that I sleep most of the time. I do pay attention once in a while, though. And I usually study the night before exam. I mean, it's not like these school subjects are needed when I work. By the way, what are the exam materials?"

_Is she for real!? _Eren gasped. _Even _Mikasa _pays attention to the teacher's lectures all the time!_

That day, Eren learned that the ranking system in their class wasn't as accurate as it appeared to be.

* * *

Reiner slammed the whiteboard multiple times before the whole class paid attention to him.

He cleared his throat, "Alright, guys. I know that our field trip is in a month, but I'll be telling you ahead. Through Christa's dad's connection, we can spend three days and two nights in this snowy mountain while residing in a comfy lodge," he said dreamily and then he wiped the imaginary tear from the corner of his eye, "As expected of the Goddess of our class…"

Most people cheered, but Eren didn't.

"What does Christa's dad do, anyway? He sure got a lot of connections."

"Maybe a mafia boss or something? Who cares?" Connie laughed heartily.

"You can be pretty smart sometimes, Connie," Ymir smirked.

"—Ymir!" Christa tried to stop her from saying unnecessary thing.

"What does that mean?" Connie asked.

"Christa's dad _is _a mafia boss. So if you ever dare to do anything funny to her, you're going to perish from the face of Earth by the morrow. The name Connie Springer will only remain as history." Ymir said while smirking.

"_Ymir_!" Christa yelled again, this time, landing a headbutt at Ymir.

"_Oopsie_, Christa's mad, I need to stop talking." Ymir said as she rubbed her throbbing head.

However, the people who overheard the conversation had started gathering, most of them being relatively shocked that the Goddess of their class belonged to a mafia family, while some of them amazed, especially Reiner.

Christa tried to explain to them that there was nothing special about being a daughter of a mafia boss and convinced them to treat her like usual.

* * *

On the fifth period, first years were having their physical examination.

The first to go was the girls. As usual, the guys took this opportunity to talk about the girls while they're away. The first one to speak was Connie.

"Hey, guys, how do you think about Christa's dad's occupation?"

"I think it's cool?" Eren answered.

"Well, I think I just have to be careful when I'm around her from now on. I don't wanna get involved with mafia, alright?" Jean said honestly, as usual.

"But I don't think Christa's the type to tell her Dad everything. I mean, she is independent despite her looks." Reiner defended.

"And Ymir will get rid of anyone who dared to touch Christa so I don't think she needs to tell her Dad." Marco commented.

Everyone nodded at that.

Suddenly, Connie grinned, "Oh well, let's change the subject then!" he clapped his hands. "I've wanted to do this when the girls aren't around!"

"Don't tell me…"

"Yeah! On to the question: Which girl do you want as your girlfriend?"

"Saw that coming…" Eren slapped his forehead.

"Oh, it's okay, Eren. You don't need to participate."

Eren raised a brow, "Huh? Why?"

Waving his hands, Connie smiled mockingly, "I mean, we all know your answer already. It's Mikasa, right?"

"Wait, who gave you the right to decide for me!?"

"I mean, it's just so obvious. Right, guys?"

All the guys nodded, even Jean.

"What!? No—I mean—Mikasa's my sister! Are you all retarded!?"

"Then, you're saying you have another girl you want as a girlfriend?" Jean asked challengingly.

"No, but—"

"See? You have hots for Mikasa, after all!" Reiner laughed.

"I don't—"

"If you really don't, tell us which girl you like." Connie challenged.

Eren stayed silent and jogged his memories, trying to find any girl he's close with. Anyone is okay, as long as he could clear up the misunderstandings. He most definitely didn't see Mikasa that way. He had to think of someone else he'd want as a girlfriend.

When he finally came up with a name, he opened his mouth, "…Annie."

Everyone blinked.

* * *

The girls walked back to class in silence. They looked more like defeated soldiers who just came back from a war. Each of their hands gripping a piece of paper—the result of their physical examination—as they let out a long sigh.

Both Mikasa and Sasha walked side-by-side, not letting their eyes off the information written on the result paper showing how much weight they had gain the past year. Mikasa swore inside that she would definitely go into a diet or she would no longer be able to work as a model, while Sasha bitterly made a promise to herself to cut down her potato consumption.

"Come on, Christa, at least you grew a bit." Ymir tried to cheer the blonde up.

"But… But… I gained weight!" Christa buried her face in her palms and sobbed dramatically.

"You gain weight when you get taller," Ymir sighed.

However, even Christa's agony was pale in comparison to Annie's. The other blonde looked as though she was ready to kill herself the next time she saw a knife. She felt like tearing the examination result to pieces so that she didn't have to see it anymore.

Because there, printed after the word _height_, was the devil number of 153cm.

_I stopped growing? _She mentally said to herself, overly panicked despite her ever stoic expression.

* * *

Meanwhile, the guys were still silent after what Eren had said. However, it didn't last long before Reiner broke into laughter.

"Eren, are you serious? You seriously fell for that midget?" he slammed the table as he laughed. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Eren, is that true?" Bertholdt, who had been quiet since the beginning, asked.

"W, well…" Eren scratched his cheek. _I can't back out, now, can I?_

"Why don't say you like Ymir instead? You think we're gonna be fooled by that kind of lie?" Jean laughed.

"Who said that's a lie!?" Eren shouted, seriously pissed.

"Now, now, don't start a fight here, guys…" Armin tried to separate them. "What if the girls heard us?"

The second Armin said that, the door opened and the girls came in. Without saying anything, the girls returned to their seats slowly. The guys looked in puzzlement at them, but the girls refused to speak. As the teacher called the guys to the gym, they left the class, still in wonder about the girls' weird behavior after returning from the gym.

_Don't tell me they heard us!?_ was what going on in the guys' heads.

* * *

Annie slurped her carton milk that was supposed to serve as her lunch.

"Why do you keep drinking milk for lunch? You never eat properly, Annie."

It was Bertholdt, who had adjusted his desk beside hers. Usually, they would eat with Reiner, but today the class rep had work at the Student Council and had told them to eat without him.

Annie looked at Bertholdt's well-packed lunch.

"I'm too lazy to wake up early and cook lunch. And I'm not fond of the cafeteria's foods."

For some reasons, Bertholdt got fired up, "I'll cook some for you, then!"

Annie blinked at his sudden enthusiasm, "Well, I don't mind… But aren't you troubled? I mean, cooking extra lunch…"

He shook his head forcefully.

"Alright, then…" Annie continued slurping her milk.

"Did you decide to drink milk so that you can get taller, Annie?"

At that, Annie spurted her drink.

Bertholdt instinctively got up from his seat and gently hit Annie's back as she coughed, "Annie, are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"You…" she glared at him as she wiped the liquid with the back of her hand. "When did you start becoming so insensitive? Are you trying to say that I'm short?"

Bertholdt blinked innocently before he smiled, "No, I think Annie is very cute."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Yes?"

Annie retrieved a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her mouth dry. She let out a sigh and told Bertholdt to resume his lunch. Not long after, he spoke up again,

"Annie, don't you think Reiner's a little more cheerful lately?"

"I don't know. Really?"

"Yeah. Ever since you guys made up, he's becoming a lot brighter and happier."

Annie stared at Bertholdt for a while, "You have always been good at watching people, don't you?" Annie saw a sauce stain at the corner of his mouth and rose from her seat to wipe it with her handkerchief, completely unaware of how red Bertholdt's face had become. "You were watching me, too…" she said as she pulled back and returned to her seat.

At that, Bertholdt became frantic, "I… it was because… Annie was a girl. And you always distanced yourself from the class… so I got a bit worried. Unlike Reiner, I'm neither talkative nor courageous. I can't do much for you. All I could do was watching…" he stuttered while trying to hide his blush.

"Hnn…" Annie merely nodded. "So… did you know about those letters, too? You've been watching me, right?" she asked with a straight face.

Actually, he knew. But he didn't want to sound like a stalker. But then again, he didn't want to lie to Annie.

"Y-yeah…" he stuttered again.

Annie nodded again before she took her bag and pulled out the white envelope from it. Bertholdt was wondering what she was doing as she opened the envelope and showed him the letter inside. It was still folded and he couldn't see what was written, but Annie shoved it to him, asking him to read the content.

When he unfolded it, however, his eyes quickly widened and he snapped his head up to Annie.

"I opened it not long ago and I had the same reaction as you. Yesterday, I thought the content of the letter would be the same as usual so I didn't bother to open it. But… you know what it means, right?" Annie said, implying to the contents of the letter.

Bertholdt nodded—too bewildered to talk as he read the contents of the letter.

Written on the white paper was:

_I'm sorry I killed your Father_

* * *

Eren had accompanied Reiner to the Student Council room. However, after the errand was done, the President had told Eren to stay.

"What business might you have with me, _kaichou_?" Eren asked, ignoring the unpleasant look Rivaille gave him and Hanji's sparkling eyes which were directed at him. Luckily, Irvin seemed to be occupied with some documents and didn't pay much attention to Eren.

"You see, Eren, I heard from a certain source that you like to do something Ackerman isn't capable of doing?"

Eren didn't hesitate to answer that one, "Yes."

"So… I am here to offer you a place in the Student Council. We short a general affairs manager."

Eren gaped, his eyes widening. Despite rejoicing at the request, he still found it a little suspicious. It was not like he underestimated himself, but there were still Mikasa who was a far more suitable candidate than himself.

"But…why me? I mean, there are others who are better than me."

"I have no idea why. This is my decision and I want to see the outcome of this decision. Will you make me proud or will you let me down? I am easily bemused by this question. So, how do you say, Eren Jaeger?" Rivaille gave one of his rare sly smiles.

"Do it, Eren, do it! And then you can always try my experimental drugs and—"

"Clam up, Hanji."

Hanji pressed her lips and sat obediently. "Okay…"

Almost too desperately, Eren bowed, "Thank you for having me!"

Rivaille closed his eyes and nodded, "You better prove yourself worthy of being called someone _better than _Ackerman."

Eren showed a wide grin, "Yes!"

* * *

"…I'm sorry for killing your Father…?"

Both Annie and Bertholdt jumped when they heard Reiner reading the contents of the letter.

"R-Reiner!?" Bertholdt gasped.

Reiner held out his hands, "Whoa, whoa… What are you guys being all tensed for?" Reiner raised a brow. "Is this thing supposed to be a secret from me or something?" he asked.

"No," Annie said as she calmly retrieved the letter from Bertholdt's hand. "I just don't think you would be that much of a help."

"What?" Reiner's eye twitched, clearly annoyed.

"Hey, hey, calm down, you two…" Bertholdt tried to separate them.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I ranked second in the entrance exam! I'm two ranks higher than you! Stop looking down on me with that never-growing height of yours!"

"Huh?" Annie twisted her mouth and glared at the taller man for insulting her height. She rose from her seat and alerted Bertholdt. "What does my height have to do with _anything_? Just because you're taller than me doesn't mean anything. Bertholdt is taller than you!"

"Eh? Why is my name getting into the conversation?" Bertholdt asked nervously.

"Bert is a world taller than _you_!"

"Like I said, why is my name—"

"Bertholdt is nicer than you."

"Nicer than you, too!"

"Hey, don't drag my name into the—"

"You start a fight with me just because of this ridiculous prank letter, Annie?" Reiner said when he had quickly taken the paper from Annie's hand, which, she responded by trying to take it back. However, since Reiner was much taller than her, he raised his hand into the air, preventing Annie from reaching the paper.

Annie tiptoed and occasionally jumped in attempt to reach the letter, but as she did so, Reiner kept raising his hand higher. "Don't just start assuming that it's a prank letter," Annie hissed while glaring at the taller man.

"Come on, you two, don't fight here!" Bertholdt turned frantic.

"She started it!" Reiner pointed at Annie with his free hand.

"Huh? If you're not so stupid, none of this would happen."

"See? There you go again, calling me stupid!"

"Shut it, stupid."

"_You _shut the stupid!"

As they started verbally abusing each other, Reiner didn't notice when someone had taken the paper from his hand. That person was Mikasa, who seemed to have been drawn into the commotion. She read the contents of the letter without much expression.

"What's this?" she asked them.

Realization hit them and the trio gasped at Mikasa. Seeing this as an opportunity since Mikasa wasn't that much taller than her, Annie snatched the paper from the black-haired girl's hand.

"Why are you even here, Mikasa?" Annie asked coldly.

Mikasa lowered her head sadly, "Eren's not back from the Student Council yet…"

Everyone took pity on the half-Oriental girl.

"…I'm so lonely I am in search of some entertainment…" she continued.

"Does this look like an entertainment to you!?" Reiner retorted almost immediately.

"Calm your ass, Reiner." Annie said.

"That's right, Reiner. Right now we should look for the sender first." Bertholdt coaxed.

"What sender, the letter's?" Mikasa asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Bert, you idiot! Why did you mention that in front of Mikasa!?" Reiner shouted.

Annie sighed, "Again, calm your ass, Reiner. I have this under control." She turned to look at Mikasa with her bored eyes, "They're holding a deducting competition, Mikasa. The only ones allowed to participate are the top 5. How is it? You feel like participating? Give us your reasoning as soon as possible."

"Who are _they_?"

"Stop asking pointless questions."

Mikasa narrowed her eyes at the blonde, irritated. "Oh well, Eren likes competitions. I guess I'll join."

"Sweet. Now go and tell Eren when he's back."

Half-sulking, Mikasa went back to where Armin was. Rolling her eyes, Annie went back to sit and continued her lunch.

* * *

"…Eh? You're offered a place in the Student Council?" Mikasa asked, tearing her eyes off her chemistry book and then sat up from her position on the bed.

Eren was sitting on the couch in the living room, which was connected to their bedroom, only separated by a thin curtain, which wasn't closed at the moment, enabling them to see each other. Mikasa got up from the bed and went to sit at the living room, beside Eren.

"Yeah! Isn't that cool?" Eren grinned excitedly.

Her expression shifting from worry to panic, Mikasa leaned forward and shouted in Eren's face, shocking him. "I'm joining too! I can't possibly leave you under that shortie's care, Eren."

"Huh, are you for real?! I'm neither your son nor your baby brother, alright!? How many times have I told you that!?" Eren snapped.

"But, Eren—"

"Shut up! I do what I want!" Eren covered his face with his chemistry book, indirectly saying that he would listen to no more of her nonsense.

Mikasa sighed in defeat and went back to bed. For some reason, she was fond of studying while rolling around on bed. It let her relax and everything she read would just flow into her head like water. And what's more, she could always sleep immediately whenever she felt drowsy.

When she climbed on to the bed, however, she was reminded of what Annie had said that noon.

"Eren?"

"What now?" Eren groaned.

"Today, Annie mentioned something about a deducting competition."

"…A competition?" Eren lowered his book. The word _competition _had completely caught his interest.

Mikasa gave a slight nod, "Only the top five are allowed to participate, she said."

Hearing the word _top five _caught Eren's interest yet again. Somehow, knowing that he was one of the top five made him proud. _That's right. I can use this as an opportunity to best them! Maybe not Mikasa, but at least I have to defeat one of those three! _

The more he thought, the more excited he became. If he won this, he could even prove himself worthy in front of Rivaille_-kaichou. _

"What do I deduct?" Eren asked.

"Annie didn't give much detail. But from what I heard, they're looking for the sender of a letter."

"What letter?"

"The content of the letter is: I'm sorry for killing your father. Or something of the sort…"

Eren's eyes widened knowingly. As one of the few people who were aware of Annie's past, those words already had a clear meaning on them. But perhaps, for the oblivious Mikasa, these words meant nothing. This could be a perfect chance for Eren to beat Mikasa. He felt bad for taking advantage from his own knowledge to beat her. But well, he didn't think Annie would want him to tell Mikasa about her past so why not?

That night, Eren spent his time deducting instead of studying.

He barely noticed that Mikasa was talking on phone with someone.

* * *

The next day, after school, Eren was sitting while grinning proudly in front of the trio: Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie, while Mikasa sat beside him, face stoid as always. He placed pride in his deduction and was confident that he was right on the spot. The trio, however, didn't really take it as seriously as the green-eyed boy did. Sure, they tried to guess who the sender was, but that was it. The three of them had given up halfway and had decided to begin their study instead.

—_Except Eren hadn't._

"Well, do begin your deduction, Eren." Reiner allowed.

Eren cleared his throat before starting, "First, as you all know, I'm well-aware of Annie's past. Firstly, I apologize…" he bowed.

"Cut the formal language and get to your reasoning already," Annie rolled her eyes in exasperation.

* * *

"Turns out, the sender must be that Phoebe girl! I can't think of other possibilities!"

Annie faked applause, "Alright, great deduction. Actually, none of us know the answer so let's finish this quickly. Mikasa, your turn." The blonde pointed at the Asian girl with her chin.

Mikasa nodded and took a step forward.

"Firstly, I shall apologize because—"

Annie groaned, "Do I really have to repeat this? Cut the formal language and—"

"—I already know the sender's true identity…" Mikasa continued.

Eyes widening, Annie practically gaped, "…What?"

Walking toward the door, Mikasa slid it open, revealing two persons standing behind it. The shorter one took a step inside the classroom, all fidgety and nervous. Soon, the taller one followed.

It was now clear who the sender was.

The four of them gulped.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**Alright, this chapter is very long, I know. I just hope you guys didn't get bored halfway... -_-**_

_**Okay! Today's quiz will be—I'm pretty sure you guys already know—"Who is the sender of the mysterious letter?"**_

_**Anyone who answers correctly shall be rewarded with a... cyber little!Annie plushie~ *heart***_

_**Anyway, see you next time~**_


	13. Historia Reiss

**Hi guys! I'm back! XD And seriously, my math is, as I had expected, fucked up beyond repair. But don't worry, I've registered for the math remedial test. Oh, and Physics too. Good thing my English abd Biology scored so good it can cover up my other low scores. And it lifted up my spirits!**

**Okay, I'm gonna shut up now.**

**Thank you: **_**Kuroi Onee-san, meshi-chan, chai, Seraphicpapilion, eEXOdicted, Zyzz, alex, Ayexia, Anaid, Wintersia, HungeGamesEnthusiast, darksy, Lady Dalila, VarilSK1, Shiina Yuki, Leavian, Death Appraiser, Shirayuki0917, Brkrth99, Cyanical, animeloverforeverjapan, Adventurer515, Guest, Kuro-KuriKuri, silentux131 and Night Stalker! **_**You guys rock!**

**Oh, right. I want to promote my new SnK one-shot, **_**Home**_**, which I published yesterday. For you, fans of Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt, please drop by and read! :3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin!**

* * *

From her pocket, she pulled out a band-aid and gave it to the timid girl who was shivering in fear. "Here, use this somewhere. They're gonna get suspicious if you're the only one without wound." Annie whispered.

Her blue eyes were cold and chilling. Historia was reluctant, but she took the band-aid anyway. Annie then pushed her, making her fall backward only to make the other girls thought she was hitting Historia as well.

Annie left to continue burying the rabbit.

"Th-thank you, Leonhardt-_san_…" Historia whispered.

Annie nodded before going home.

Historia quickly wore the band-aid on her right cheek.

Not long after Annie had left, Phoebe and her girls rose from their spot while wincing in pain, each one of them started cursing Annie for doing this to them. Historia wanted to defend Annie but if she did, all Annie's effort will be in vain.

She balled her fists in frustration for not being able to do anything.

"…Historia?"

Historia snapped her head up to Phoebe when she called her name, "Y-yes, Phoebe?"

"Your cheek," Phoebe pointed at the band-aid, "did Leonhardt hurt you?" she asked.

Reluctantly, Historia nodded.

For some reasons, Phoebe's lips formed a smirk similar to that of a Cheshire cat's and Historia could feel chill down her spines when she saw that expression and cold sweats started trailing down her cheek. It was an expression that said she had something going on in her mind. And that something was not anything good.

"Hey, Historia…"

"…Y-yes?"

"Your dad's a mafia boss, right? And if I remember… you said you have bodyguards or something? Tell them about what Leonhardt had done to you. I'm sure she's going to get what she deserves." Phoebe's smirk expanded into a demonic smile.

Historia tried to fight back, "B-but Phoebe, it's just a small cut—"

"Let her taste our fury, Historia. Look at what she had done to humiliate us. I will not let her live happily anymore. That bitch…" Phoebe muttered. Her eyes darkened, it was clear that she was not very happy about what Annie had just done to her.

"That's right! Do it, Historia!" one of the girls added.

"She stole Reiner Braun from Phoebe and acts like she knows nothing!" the other girl added.

"She hurt you too, didn't she? Don't tell us you're okay with that?"

Historia couldn't speak. She was torn between defending Annie who had been so nice to her, or continue protecting herself whom Annie had tried to protect. She felt like crying and yelling at how helpless she was.

"It's okay, Historia. If you can't do it, I will tell your bodyguards myself." Phoebe smiled.

Historia's heart stopped.

* * *

**Chapter 13. Historia Reiss**

* * *

The next day, Historia went to school hoping to find a chance to tell Annie about Phoebe's plan. However, she was surrounded by Phoebe and the girls the entire day and didn't get the chance to. The next day, she planned to go to school early to spot Annie when she came to school, but Annie never came.

"Tomorrow the winter break starts… How am I supposed to look for Leonhardt-_san_?" she muttered to herself. She was sitting on the toilet, sighing at her own incompetence.

When she was about to exit, however, she heard familiar voices from beyond the door.

It was Phoebe and her girls.

She pressed her ear to the door and listened to their conversation.

"Hey, did you hear? April said that Leonhardt ran away from home last night."

"Eh? For real? What a coward~"

"Anyway, how did April know about that? She's creepy with her knowledge of everything."

"But she _is _useful. So is Historia sometimes."

"Yeah. I mean, her dad being a mafia boss? That's _so _useful at times like this!"

They all giggled and left.

A while later, Historia came out from the room she had been hiding in. She sighed, with her head hanging low. It's not like she didn't know that they were taking advantage of her, but hearing it directly was more painful than she had expected.

She looked into the mirror, '_Maybe I should have taken Leonhardt-san's side after all.' _Then she shook her head, _'No! If I do that, it means I'm just taking advantage of Leonhardt-san's strength!'_

Historia sighed, for the umpteenth time of the day, as she made her way back to her class.

* * *

The next day, Phoebe and her girls paid a visit to the Reiss household since it was Christmas Eve. In the house, they purposefully badmouthed Annie in front of Historia's bodyguards. It was the worst Christmas Eve in Historia's life as she had to agree with them out of her own will. Guilt began to build up inside her she even lost her appetite.

Phoebe and her girls resumed that activity of badmouthing Annie for the next few days and Historia's bodyguards finally approved of harming Annie or her family. And Phoebe, knowing from April that Annie was residing in the Braun's household, didn't wish to harm Reiner and decided to let Historia's bodyguards harm Annie's father instead.

And all of that, planned behind Historia's back.

When news arrived, what Historia heard was Annie's father's death.

"Wh-what?" Historia begged for confirmation.

"We have disposed of that girl's father, Milady."

She knew that her bodyguards weren't very fond of joking. That was definitely not a joke. But she refused to believe in it. Her body trembled. Her hand looked for anything she could hold and then threw it at them.

"Milady! Milady, what are you doing?" they asked in confusion while shielding themselves from the thrown things.

Historia threw everything she could find with her trembling hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her body felt numb.

"I never asked you to do that!" she threw her pillow. "Don't get ahead of yourself and do something I never wanted!" she threw her teddy bear. "You're _always _like that! Do you think that it's going to please me?" she threw her clock. "I… How am I… I can no longer face her now!" she buried her face in her palms and fell to her knees.

.

_I'm sorry, Leonhardt-san…_

_._

She wailed. Hot tears never stopped flowing as her heart squeezing with guilt.

.

_I'm so sorry…_

_._

It was all her fault. If only she had told everyone the truth.

.

_Please forgive me…_

_._

The next time she tried to find Annie, she was told that she had moved to another town, following the family that would be taking care of her. Every year, Historia moved from school to school, hoping to find Annie even though she didn't know to which town she had moved to.

Without any clue, it took her six years to find the person she had been looking for.

.

.

_**Six years later…**_

**.**

**.**

It all began on the first day of her high school year.

While looking for her name in the notice board, she found the names she was familiar with; Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Fubar, and lastly, Annie Leonhardt. She almost forgot how to breathe. Her whole body froze in shock. She had finally found her.

"Oh? Christa, your class is 1-04 too? Lucky~" Ymir said as she hugged her happily.

Christa smiled, "Ehehe…" Not wanting Ymir to notice her tension, Christa created a topic, "You know, Ymir? They said that class 1-04 is some sort of a special class in this school. It only consists of twelve students every year."

"Hmm? Well, I don't really care as long as I'm in the same class with you."

Christa giggled.

Christa Renz was the name she had used to mask her identity for six years now. The fact that she was a daughter of a mafia boss, that alone, she never wanted to let anyone learn about it anymore. She wanted to let the name Historia Reiss within her die along with Annie's father's death. That way, she felt like she could repent on her sin. At least, that was what eased her heart until now.

She met Ymir three years ago and the taller girl seemed to have taken a liking to her. Ymir seemed to be living by herself and she had no problem changing schools alongside Christa every year. Even after knowing Christa's background, Ymir didn't hate her or take advantage of her. All she ever did was follow her without saying anything.

Christa was glad that someone could accept her as herself.

* * *

The homeroom teacher, Keith Shadis, introduced himself and demanded the students to do the same. In order, they introduced themselves, starting from the top of the class; Mikasa Ackerman.

"Mikasa Ackerman, 15 years old. I live with Eren—"

"Do you really have to mention that!?"

Christa looked at the green-eyed boy who just gave the retort. He must be the one named Eren, then. _Eh? They live together?_

Next was the second place.

"My name's Reiner Braun. Guys, let's get along for the next three years! Well, I heard this class will stay the same for three years, so… we'll stick together for three years, right? By the way, my hobby is doing sports and—"

"Okay, enough. Next!"

The tallest guy in the class rose from his seat, which was only beside Reiner. "My name is Bertholdt Fubar. Nice to meet you all."

"That was short. Next!"

The petite girl, who sat at the front, slowly rose from her seat and spoke in a low voice, "Annie Leonhardt," was the only thing she said before sitting back.

Christa ignored the rest of the introductions and focused her attention on Annie, who was already yawning and ready to sleep. The older girl had changed in one way, and in the other way, she hadn't. Christa didn't realize that she had started fidgeting out of nervousness. After six years she had spent to look for Annie, she didn't know what to say now that she had found her. Luckily, none of the three seemed to recognize her.

Her mind was too occupied that she didn't realize Ymir had been nudging her.

"Christa! It's your turn to introduce yourself," she whispered.

Her eyes wide in realization, Christa rose from her seat almost immediately, "M-my name is Christa Renz. Nice to meet you all!" she bowed. Then she brought her head up again to show everyone a nervous smile, "L-let's all be friends…" she said.

Almost everyone in the class was gawking as though they were looking at a Goddess.

* * *

A week later, Christa still couldn't find an opportunity to talk to Annie, as all Annie ever did was sleep in the class or read books. In addition, no one seemed to pay that much attention to Annie so Christa found it very difficult to approach her without anyone having weird thoughts. Most people would spend their time betting on who's going to win in the fight between Eren Jaeger and Jean Kirschtein, which happened in daily basis.

'_Aah! What am I doing prioritizing public opinion instead of Annie?'_

Christa slapped her cheeks multiple times before the mirror. Following everyone in the class, she had started calling Annie by her first name.

She started pumping her fists slightly to encourage herself.

"…Christa?"

Turning around, Christa could find Mikasa staring at her with her unreadable eyes. Christa sweated, wary of what Mikasa was thinking because she couldn't read her at all.

"Y-yes?"

"Why were you slapping your cheeks?" Mikasa asked indifferently as she made her way to the sink to wash her hands which had bloodstain on it. Christa gulped. Mikasa must have stopped Eren and Jean's fight using violence.

"…E-eh? There's nothing, really."

"…Hmm?" Mikasa looked into her eyes, making her feel more nervous. "Every time Armin did that, it means he has problems. What about you? What do you do that for?" she asked, most likely out of pure curiosity.

After fidgeting for a while, Christa decided to speak, "Mikasa… if you did something wrong and wanted to apologize but never get a chance to, what will you do? Oh! And also, if you're too shy to approach said person…" she asked.

Mikasa tilted her head, seemingly confused. Then she looked upwards, browsing her mind. Her mouth opened to speak, "Maybe I'll write a letter?"

"…A letter?"

Mikasa nodded, "When someone's too shy to speak directly with a person, they write letters. At least that's what Armin told me."

"A letter…" Christa muttered, patting her chin in a deep thought. Then she clapped her hands, "A letter!" she chimed.

"Did that solve your problem?" Mikasa asked in monotone. Christa had started to wonder if Mikasa even did this to help her or she was just getting bored because she had nothing to do.

Either way, Christa was feeling thankful. No, this did not solve her problem. But at least this could cease her nervousness and eventually she would be able to tell Annie in person.

"Yes! Yes it did! Thank you, Mikasa!" Christa waved good-bye and left with a smile.

Mikasa waved back.

* * *

Every week, Christa would put the letter inside Annie's shoe locker and waited until she could see her reaction. At first, Annie looked quite startled and would look around as to who the sender was. But eventually, she stopped wondering.

Half a year went by and Annie stopped completely.

Furthermore, she became closer to Reiner and Bertholdt like they were in their childhood. It was almost like she had completely forgotten about the tragedy of her childhood. She acted like that day never happened. And it seemed that she had already forgiven Reiner as well.

However, that didn't apply to Christa.

The feeling of guilt still haunted her as much as it did in the past.

That time, Christa decided to add the contents of the letter.

.

.

.

The four of them gulped.

"…Christa?"

The said girl lowered her head and bit her lower lip in anxiety. Beside her, Ymir reassured her, saying that she was doing the right thing.

"It was you?" Reiner asked, completely taken aback.

On the other hand, Mikasa was looking all indifferent at the scene, while Annie chose to be quiet when Christa told them about her past.

"Mikasa, how did you find out that it was Christa? I mean, you don't even know Annie's past so how…" Reiner uncharacteristically tensed.

Mikasa opened her mouth to speak, "Coincidence. On our first days of school, she had once asked for advice from me about how to apologize to someone and I suggested on writing letters. I just thought that maybe she really did as I suggested and she might just be the sender we're looking for. Last night, I called her to confirm it. End of discussion."

"I can't say whether you're smart or just lucky, Mikasa…" Eren gritted his teeth. He regretted not listening to Mikasa's conversation on phone last night.

"But, for her to remember such trivial event is already remarkable…" Bertholdt commented and Annie nodded in agreement.

"Is it really that remarkable?" Mikasa asked.

"You bet!" Reiner exclaimed.

"—_Anoo_!"

Five of them turned to look at Christa, who seemed to wear a determined expression on her face. She inhaled deeply before facing Annie, much to the older girl's surprise. Then, she bowed sincerely, saying "Please forgive me, Annie!"

Annie looked visibly bothered by the fact that someone was bowing right before her. She sighed and spoke, "Raise your head."

"But—"

"It's okay. I've gotten over it. It's not exactly your fault and it's been six years, after all…" she muttered. Her voice was longing, as if she suddenly wanted to meet her deceased Father once again. Good grief, she thought, everybody kept reminding her of her past lately.

"It's not okay!" Christa shook her head.

Annie tilted her head in puzzlement at Christa's persistence.

"I… I…" burying her face in her palms, Christa sobbed. "…I killed your father… I put you into despair for six years… I… I don't deserve your forgiveness…" she fell on her knees.

Realizing Christa's overwhelming guilt, Annie kneeled and stroked her back reassuringly.

"You know," Annie spoke up.

Christa, despite her tears had yet to stop, looked up at Annie.

"These past six years weren't that bad," she said while still stroking Christa's back. "The family that took care of me was nice. I got to live on my own after getting a job and it went well. This year, I even get to make up with my friends."

Reiner looked embarrassed while Bertholdt just smiled.

"But you," Annie continued, "You've suffered for six years, unable to taste real happiness because of guilt. You're being too hard on yourself. It's you who never forgive yourself…"

"But, Annie…" Christa sobbed again.

"You said that Christmas Eve was the worst Christmas Eve you ever had, right?" Annie asked, but more to herself than Christa. "That Christmas Eve was my best Christmas Eve, you know?" Annie gave her a faint smile. "So you can stop feeling guilty. Because you've suffered enough for my share…"

Nodding, Christa cried loudly while burying her face in Annie's chest.

.

.

_People can forgive you for the sin you commit.  
However, it was yourself who could never accept forgiveness…_

* * *

"Listen, listen, Rivaille! Eren's pouting because he lost to Mikasa again! Aww, he's just so cute~" Hanji said in singsong voice while setting aside some documents she was reading. Sitting across her was Eren Jaeger, who refused to talk and kept on an unpleasant expression on his face.

"Quit that face and work properly, brat."

"…Yes."

"If one lose is what it takes to drag you down, you don't have the right to call yourself a member of the Student Council."

"Forgive my rudeness, _kaichou. _But still, this is not the first time I lose to her. This is the—I can't even keep the count…" and Eren sighed and slumped into depression.

"Eren," Rivaille began and Eren looked up at him. "Stop being a baby and let it go. What good will it does you to dwell over something that had happened. Look in front of you, there are still many things Ackerman isn't expert in. If you still can't get over with it, you can make your way out of this place on your first day of being an active member."

Eren lowered his head, his expression darkened. Rivaille-_kaichou _was right. He was being childish again.

"I chose you as one of my men instead of Ackerman precisely because I have faith that you are someone who knows nothing such as giving up."

Hearing that, Eren brought his head up again, looking at the president, however the president was already continuing his paperwork. Hanji chuckled and winked at Eren, muttering things that sounded like: "It's Rivaille's way to cheer someone up. Get used to it, Eren."

Eren nodded. Despite everything, the president was actually a nice person.

* * *

After school, the trio decided to study at the library. It was not like they studied together because they needed tutoring from one another. Instead, they were just seeking peace.

Unlike Reiner, Annie didn't repeatedly read a page to memorize the contents. As she seemed to be merely flipping the pages nonchalantly, looking like she was only half-awake with her eyelids nearly closing. On the other hand, Bertholdt was doing several difficult problems.

Joining the trio, Connie seated himself beside Reiner, who seemed to be doing the problems with so much effort.

"Hey, Reiner, how do we solve this problem?" he asked.

Reiner seemed to be reluctant to leave his half-solved problem, as he only took a quick glance at the problem Connie showed, which was a multiple choices problem, and circled the answer. "That's the answer. Figure out the method yourself." And he went back to do his problem.

"What the—" Connie jerked away in slight shock. Then he turned to Annie, who only sat across him. "Hey, Annie, have you solved this one?" he asked, pointing at the problem.

Annie only gave a quick glance and returned to her book, nodding slightly.

"Can you explain to me the method—"

"I looked at this answer key while doing it. Here," Annie said, handing the boy a paper full of the answers and methods to solve the problems.

Connie wordlessly received the paper, too bewildered to talk. Then he turned to look at Bertholdt, who was all too silent while being occupied by his own problems. Well, _a little _too occupied to pay attention to the newcomer.

Soon, Connie decided to join Jean's group instead. Armin was there anyway. The blond could definitely teach him better than those three.

* * *

Hitting the table multiple times, Sasha wailed loudly, "_Gyaah_! I've had enough of this! Let me out of this torture chamber!"

Across her, Christa smiled apologetically. The three of them had decided to study in group because Sasha insisted on it, saying that she wouldn't make it if she studied by herself. Christa had started to wonder how the glutton brunette managed to rank nine in the entrance exam like this. Was it all coincidence?

She shook her head. She shouldn't have made wild assumption.

"Oh please, would you just shut up for a sec, Sasha? Just read your _goddamned _book," Ymir rolled her eyes before she continued reading.

Sasha slammed her face on the table.

"Um… Sasha? Which one do you not get? I'll explain it to you…" Christa offered kindly.

"Explain _everything _to me! I don't understand any of this!"

"E—eh? W, well, this one is about—"

Sasha immediately slammed the table and rose from her seat, "Alright! Let's grab some supper, guys!" she said excitedly before skipping toward the door.

Ymir rolled her eyes and sighed, had been expecting this, while Christa just blinked in confusion.

* * *

"Oh man, I can't believe I was so stupid!"

Eren frantically scribbled on the white paper. He had been cursing himself for the past hour for being so stupid as to not study last night and preferred to solve the mystery behind the letter instead. Now he would definitely lose to Mikasa _again_. He was getting sick of this. Even after Rivaille-_kaichou _had gone all the way to cheer him up, now he felt like shit.

As he scratched his hair in frustration of not being able to solve the problem, he didn't realize that Mikasa had stood beside him, studying the problem he was solving. It didn't take her five seconds to lean forward, tuck her hair behind her ear, and took Eren's pencil. Eren wanted to voice a protest, but the sweet smell of her hair completely caught him off guard. They were really close to the point he could take notice of her long eyelashes he usually didn't.

Eren didn't realize that he had been holding his breath looking at her.

And she had already done with the problem by then.

"Here, I tried to finish it with the shortest way possible. Can you grasp it?"

Silence.

"…Eren?"

Eren snapped out of it when Mikasa waved her hand in front of his face, her expression painted with worry. Shifting his gaze to the solved problem, Eren nodded.

"Eren, are you not feeling well?" she sounded worried.

"I'm fine! And I didn't ask for your help, okay? Don't get ahead of yourself!" Eren glowered before continuing his study.

Mikasa sighed and walked away.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**For you who gave the right answer for the previous quiz, here are your cyber little!Annie plushies~ *throws the plushies***_

_**And this week there isn't any quiz. Instead, please tell me your MOST FAVORITE character in SnK? :3**_

_**My goal for this chapter is 375 reviews...maybe? :3**_


	14. The Culture Festival

**Okay. Firstly, I would like to apologize for the late update. Due to school and other stuffs, I can't really write anything out of my mind lately. Maybe I'll change my update schedule into once every two weeks or something. But then again, it depends on how much time I get to write AND how much time I get to think for plot details. Again, I apologize. **

**Next, let me thank these cool guys for reviewing: **_**meshi-chan, Seraphicpapilion, Alexnoel1422427, Endance, Luke-Lindsedt, Kuroi Onee-san, ElucidatorHJ, Zyzz, im-michaela, animeloverforeverjapan, Ayexia, Kenshin El, inodesuyo, Fan, amazing, RavioliTitan, VarilSK1, creativeactive, Brkrth99, Nancy Haibara, fdfvfdfdf, Hollaloop, Kuro-KuriKuri, Night Stalker, Commander Kotori, Gleam Tamer Hikari27, UberAzn888, Lizzie, AnimeLoverxxxSinceBirth, MayuChii, xEX0tic, Iwai, StandUpEvenIfYouStandAlone, Guest, felicity2hawt4u, silentux131, **_**and **_**sereneskydragonslayer. **_**Please leave reviews again. They're wonderful ;)**

**And congratulations for **_**MayuChii**_**, my 375****th**** reviewer who completed my goal! XD I'm very sorry I didn't update right after you reviewed… m(_ _)m**

**To **_**Lizzie, **_**who requested me to write an ErenxAnnie fic, I will consider it :3 I mean, of course I am a fan of that pairing. But right now I haven't thought of a good story to write about them. Maybe I'll write a one-shot? Be sure to check it out once I post it ;)**

**Oh, right! There's one last thing I want to say: I am truly happy that most of you are very welcoming toward various characters' past I insert into the story. Truthfully, I also enjoy writing an AU and their pasts are freely mine to create (LoL)**

**Last thing; have you guys watched episode 23? I'm sure most of you have. Alright, one thing I've been craving to say is: OMFG! The whole Annie's **_**yandere **_**laugh scene is…fantastic! I never expected that! I mean, I've read the manga and nothing like that ever appeared in it. I might make use of Annie's **_**yandere **_**trait inside my fic, or maybe create another fic with **_**yandere**_**!Annie in it. Well, again, it depends!**

**On to the story then. This is the longest chapter so far. I hope you enjoy it. And please kill me if you don't, because I know it's crappy, rushed, cliché, and many more…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

Eren sighed at the test result displayed on the announcement board. He was ranked fifth. _Again._

And ironically, the rank didn't change the slightest from the entrance exam's ranking result. Was their fate sealed on the moment of that cursed entrance exam? Once again, Eren sighed, leaving the place while followed by Mikasa.

Lately, Armin hung out with Jean's group a little bit too much for Eren's taste, but he never banned the blond from it. Furthermore, Eren was actually glad that Jean's presence prevented Armin from getting bullied at all. With Jean being an overly-honest person who would beat the crap out of everyone whom he believed was a jerk, much like Eren.

Halfway to the class, Eren met Rivaille and Hanji. However, what took his attention was the fact that Hanji's right arm was bandaged and so was her cheek. Despite her condition, Hanji still put on her usual grin.

"Yo, Eren and Mikasa!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Hanji-_senpai_, what on Earth happened to you?" Eren asked in slight worry.

"Oh, this?" Hanji pointed to her arm. "Nah, it's nothing big…" she waved her hand. "Rivaille and I were visiting the house yesterday, you see. Sonny and Bean had grown _so _big while I'm away so when I played with them, I accidentally broke a bone or two. This is like their love mark for me!" she said dreamily, pointing at her wounded arm and earning a glare from Rivaille.

_Just what animal are these Sonny and Bean? _ "…The house? Does that mean… you two live together?" Eren asked carefully.

"We currenly live together in an apartment with Irvin, but previously, I lived in Rivaille's house too. I mean, I was his—"

"You talk too much, Hanji. I'm going to tear your mouth if you say any more than that. Now go and take your goddamned rest in the infirmary."

"…Eeeh? But why do I bother coming to school if I'm just gonna sleep?" Hanji pouted childishly.

"I told you to stay home for the day."

"But we have so much to do today for the culture festival preparations!"

"What help can you offer with a faulty arm?"

"I can help, really!"

"Get. Your. Goddamned. Rest. Don't make me repeat myself."

Hanji stuck out her bottom lip into a pout and went to the infirmary while murmuring incoherent words—most likely curses—under her breath. After he had watched Hanji left, Rivaille turned to Eren.

"This means extra work for you, Eren." He patted Eren's shoulder lightly before leaving.

"Y-yes!"

Eren could only nod, not noticing the menacing glare Mikasa had shot at the shorter man.

* * *

**Chapter 14. The Culture Festival**

* * *

One word to describe the entire atmosphere was _festive_.

Food stands were scattered here and there once you made your first step into the school ground, offering their fine smell and uncountable attractive appearances that lured you in unwillingly. Inside the building, entertainments such as haunted house, maid café, or even fortune teller were waiting for your visit. However, the main show was placed in the gymnasium and school field. Gymnasium offered band performance, drama, and magic shows while the school field offered sports performance from various clubs in the school.

Back to the building, class 1-04 was preparing for their long-awaited—or not—maid café. All the students were present except for Eren, who was busy helping out at the Student Council, which earned bitter look from Mikasa.

While they were decorating the class, Reiner caught a glimpse of Annie tiptoeing to reach a certain spot that was rather high up. She was stretching out her arm that was slightly trembling from the effort she made to reach that spot. The sight was merely too adorable that it took Reiner ten seconds to admire it before offering to help her.

"Fuck off. Mind your own business, tall guy," Annie answered coldly; clearly offended.

Oh man, Reiner thought, was she still mad about him insulting her height? It was just a form of speech at the time and he didn't really mean it—well, it's true that her height hardly increased, though.

"Let me do that, Annie."

The petite blonde turned around just to find Bertholdt smiling at her, offering to help. Her expression softening, Annie handed the artificial flower to the much taller guy wordlessly. Bertholdt put the flower on its supposedly spot without any difficulty at all it almost annoyed Annie. But at least the guy weren't bragging like Reiner would.

"Thanks," Annie said shortly.

"You're welcome! I'm glad I could be of some help," he smiled.

Reiner almost felt left out seeing his two friends getting all lovey-dovey for some unknown reasons. But then again, he had always been aware of Bertholdt's secret crush on Annie—even though the taller guy never mentioned it. He never noticed when it began, but when he came to notice, Bertholdt had been occasionally stealing glances at the petite blonde.

Smiling to himself, Reiner left the two by themselves.

* * *

Rivaille glared.

Hanji grinned and continued swinging her feet childishly as she sat on the table.

"Why are you here? I thought I told you to stay home." Rivaille tried to sound as gentle as possible. Only to fail as his tone was extremely chilly it could freeze the very hell.

"_Eeh_? Why should I stay home on this merry day? Rivaille, you're so mean!" Hanji pouted.

"Why you—someone is worried for your well-being and this is how you treat them?"

"You're worried? That's… wow!" she burst out into laughter.

"Stop laughing like an idiot and ask someone to drive you home."

"Don't wanna~"

"Hanji Zoë… I _swear _to God I will—"

"Calm down, Rivaille. You worry too much. Hanji is a big girl now." There came a comment from the calmly smiling Irvin, who had been sitting quietly and sorting out documents up until now. Hanji grinned in victory at Rivaille after saying an "I love you, Daddy~" to Irvin, feeling proud that Irvin sided with her. She always felt she did the right thing whenever Irvin sided with her.

Rivaille was about to remain stubborn and insisted on her returning home before a hand suddenly landed on top of Hanji's head, stroking it rather roughly, making Hanji's body shook in synch with her head. The bespectacled brunette turned around to see who did it and grinned afterward.

"Mornin', Mike! You're early today!" she waved enthusiastically.

The blond gave a single nod, "I'm surprised you still stop by this place despite your susceptible state, Zoë. You should've just let us handle the work and taken a stroll."

"I will, later!" she snickered. "I'm currently performing my daily duty of annoying Rivaille, right, Rivaille~?"

Rivaille rolled his eyes and left for his seat, giving up on sending the little annoyance home.

* * *

Class 1-04 had already finished decorating their supposedly maid café by the time the event had started and was patiently waiting for customers. The event had just started. It was the most crucial time to attract customers.

…Except, they hadn't received any customers yet.

Why, you asked?

Well, it was because—

"_Goddammit_! Who on Earth left Reiner in charge of distributing the brochures!? No one's gonna stop by this café!" Jean shrieked hysterically when he saw the giant maid standing outside the class, offering brochures promoting their café—all the while showing a half-hearted, twitching grin that looked incredibly frightening.

"We've got no choice, okay? We're running out of maids here!" Connie commented.

"Huh? Why the hell? If I recall, we've got plenty of maids."

Ymir appeared out of nowhere and started talking, "Listen, Eren is busy with the Student Council, Sasha and Armin are helping out their clubs, and I'm not letting Christa expose herself out there with so many beasts waiting to jump at her and eat her alive." She quickly secured the smaller girl in her arms.

"I get it! So where are the butlers!? 'Cause sending the mascots out there will be so…_unrelated_! To the point they might think we're doing some kids entertainment!" Jean groaned.

"About that," Ymir scratched her cheek. "Mikasa left after a _senpai _with glasses came and told her something about substitute player—oh, don't worry, the _senpai_ is still here, helping out in the kitchen. As for Annie, a girl with pigtails stopped by a short while ago and dragged her away."

Jean blinked. Once. Twice. And then he exploded.

"We aren't running out of maids! We're running out of labor here! Someone, go get them back!"

Reiner quickly dashed into the class, "I know where Annie went! I'll go get her!" he said before leaving for the changing room, glad to had finally been freed from the maid outfit, albeit temporarily.

* * *

Vast green extended throughout the sight. As one of the largest school in the town, Shingeki High was equipped with wide training field, more so than any average schools in the neighborhood. It allowed multiple activities to be conducted at once in the wide field, including trainings from various sport clubs without sparking unnecessary conflicts. Shingeki High experted in their extracurricular than their academic skills, though it didn't mean the students of this school had poor academic skills.

That being said, there was a certain club currently practicing at the field.

"Sasha, you can go back to your class now!" one of the senior had shouted to the brunette that was horseriding around the field.

As if she was in her own world, Sasha ignored the shout and continued pulling the string of her bow, releasing it and allowing the arrow to hit the bullseye. Familiar feeling of satisfaction filled her heart when her arrow hit the yellow circle. Her lips formed a grin while she took a bite of the potato in her hand. Another shout was heard, now in higher tone, which indicated that the senior was enraged. Frightened by the senior's rage, Sasha quickly pulled the rein and forced the horse to walk the opposite way.

The third year senior stomped toward her, fuming.

"Why you little—"

Sasha quickly jumped off her horse and kneeled on the ground, pressing her forehead on its hard surface, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please forgive me, _senpai_! I wasn't concentrating and—"

"Alright, get up! You're embarrassing me!" the senior pulled her up, "I wasn't particularly mad anyway. Your performance on the horse was… impressive, I'd say. And I can't believe you were ranked ninth thanks to your horseriding and archery skills. It's just… wow," the senior grinned and patted Sasha's shoulder.

Sasha replied with a stupid grin as she scratched the back of her head bashfully.

"Now go, girl, your friends are waiting for you." Slapping Sasha's back hard until the brunette almost fell forward, the senior snickered.

"Y-yessir!"

* * *

Reiner gulped when he examined the artificial human arm hung above the entrance. It looked almost real he couldn't help but shiver at the thought that it could have been a _real _severed human arm. Looking around, he cursed himself to only notice the eerie—almost gruesome—design this place had. Blood (artificial also) was splattered everywhere within sight, painting it with red. As he peeked inside, he could see the place itself was dim, and he could barely make out anything.

He only went here to find Annie, but what he found was Annie being forced to enter the Haunted House by Mina Carolina, a girl who was in the same class as them in middle school. She and Annie were quite close despite Annie's solitary attitude.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Beside him, Annie shook her head. Despite her never-changing expression he could tell that she was actually s_cared._

It happened once when they were still very young. The first and the last time he saw Annie cry was when the three of them were accidentally locked inside the _dojo_'s warehouse for three hours. Annie's fear of the dark was ultimately revealed that time. _Scotophobia_; was what she admitted to have suffered since birth.

And both he and Bertholdt knew, if not more than anyone, that despite her strong front, Annie carried various phobias—even though she never told them directly.

"Come on, get inside! I just want to know your opinion about our Haunted House!"

Mina said from the counter.

Reiner didn't reply, only looking at the petite girl beside him, who remained stoic but had started shaking slightly. Sighing, Reiner turned to Mina to tell her the truth—since Annie was too embarrassed to admit her phobia to people.

"Listen here, Mina, Annie suffers from—_for the love of Titans_!"

Annie was twisting Reiner's arm, preventing him from saying anything more, ignoring Reiner's pained cry. "Ouch, ouch! Annie, what are you—_ouch_—let me go! You're _fucking _killing me!"

Releasing him, Annie averted her eyes somewhere else.

Groaning, Reiner took Annie's small hand into his and marched into the Haunted House. "Alright! Let's get this over with _quickly_!"

"Take care~ Don't piss yourself~!"

After an annoying mocking sound made by the grinning Mina, Reiner finally took his first step into class 1-B's proud Haunted House, knowing nothing of what had been waiting for him inside.

He noticed that each step he took increased Annie's shaking. She had been looking on the floor from the moment they entered the place, gritting her teeth in attempt to cease her shaking. The 'ghosts' hiding in the whole place appeared to be considerate enough to not to scare the frightened Annie. She was shaking like a drenched cat now despite the fact that no 'ghosts' had made their appearance.

"Annie, if you're really scared, you should've just rejected the offer."

"Did you expect me to just tell her head-on about my _scotophobia_? You can't be serious."

"What's wrong with telling your friend about yourself?"

Annie narrowed her eyes, "I don't want any more people to take pity on me. Some people who knew about my life see me with different eyes. I hate those eyes. Those eyes look as though they're telling me that I'm the most pitiful person in this world. Eren and Christa… they see me with those eyes," she turned to look at him with her half-lidded eyes, "so do you and Bertholdt."

"And what's wrong with being pitiful? Don't be so stiff, Annie."

She released her hand from his and increased her pace, "You will never understand, the way you are right now. You live happily, with a loving mom and a hardworking dad who see you as nothing but pride; best friends everywhere. I envy you, Reiner…"

Reiner was about to counter her but she cut in.

"But," she turned away from him, "I don't think I am anticipating such a life. I am fine the way I am now so please stop looking at me like that."

Of course he knew. He didn't look at her that way intentionally. She was a precious friend and he just didn't want to see her to suffer at all. Knowing that she lived by herself, endured all the hardships without asking for help, supported her own life by working part-time, and without any relatives to turn to in the moment of crisis; how could he overlook that?

Especially when knowing that _he _was the cause to it.

"Annie—"

Before he could say any more, Annie had put a finger over his lips, shutting him up. "Look at what kind of face you're making, you look ridiculously serious."

He could hear her snort after she removed her finger.

Folding her arms, Annie looked him in the eyes. "If you consider what I said seriously, you will hurt your brain. Now which one of us shouldn't be so stiff?" she raised a brow; a flash of amusement in her ocean blue eyes.

Reiner knitted his brow.

Annie did a monotonous mocking laugh before turning around, leading the way.

"Let's go. Luckily I don't see any ghost around for a while."

Sighing, Reiner smiled wearily. He had always found Annie's playful side very adorable—he couldn't possibly be mad after seeing her have fun, even though her _fun _involved torturing him mentally. As he trailed her from behind, he reached for her small hand once again. She turned to him but never resisted his touch. Instead, he could see a ghost of a smile on her lips.

Maybe Annie really wasn't as pitiful as he always thought.

* * *

"Please take care of me."

"—Mikasa!? Why the hell are you here!?"

Eren jumped in surprise when he saw Mikasa inside the Student Council room. She was supposed to be helping out the class, wasn't she?

"I heard from Zoë-senpai," Rivaille slightly flinched at that name, "that her class needs a substitute player for their play tomorrow. Since she broke her arm, she wants me to replace her role in the play…" Mikasa briefly explained.

Before Eren could voice his objection, Rivaille beat him into it.

"Hanji played quite a major role in the play. Are you sure you can manage to memorize all the lines by tomorrow, Ackerman?" he asked indifferently. Deep inside, he already knew that she could. She wasn't ranked first in her grade for nothing.

Mikasa gave a single nod, not wanting to engage into a further nerve-wracking conversation with the President.

"Are you sure?" Rivaille raised a brow, as if mocking her.

Glaring at him, Mikasa nodded again. "I am sure, _kaichou. _Now would you let me see the manuscript?" she bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything rude in front of the other Student Council members, especially Eren.

Shrugging, Rivaille lent her his manuscript before seating himself on his royal chair, observing how Mikasa had taken a seat on one of the chairs while scanning the script.

Noticing that Petra and Eren were staring at him staring at Mikasa, he eyed them and it was enough for them to shift their gazes somewhere else and continued doing the paperwork swiftly. Petra Ral; wasn't a member of the Student Council, but instead, was the leader of the Disciplinary Committee—the committee Rivaille originally wished to join. However, in her free time, Petra would stop by to offer a hand.

Rivaille also noticed that Eren had been hanging out around Petra quite a lot lately, probably because the second year female acted more like a guiding senior than Hanji, who's a third year and still as childish as a ten year old.

Kids sure knew which person to rely on.

When Eren was doing his paperwork, he noticed Petra stealing glances at the President every once in a while. Eren tilted his head, wondering why she was so bothered with Rivaille's paying attention to Mikasa. Being him, Eren asked the second year.

"Petra-_senpai_, why are you gawking at the President?" Eren whispered.

Immediately, Petra was flustered. "Wha—Gawking? I—I wasn't!" she denied with all her might.

"Eh? You weren't?"

"No!"

"But you were stealing glances at—umph!"

Petra pressed her hand on Eren's mouth to shut him up.

"Don't say it!" she blushed violently.

Eren nodded.

Petra let go and sighed.

"Could it be… you're jealous of Mikasa?" Eren whispered carefully. He just couldn't help his curiosity.

Petra blinked at her junior before bursting into giggles. Careful so that Rivaille wouldn't get bothered by it, she giggled quietly. "No, no, Eren, I wasn't jealous of Mikasa. I mean, she and _kaichou _are just acquaintances. Or they look more like bickering siblings."

"Then, what is it that bothers you?"

Petra's smile turned bitter, "You see… I was just impressed by Hanji-_san_…"

"Hanji-_senpai_? Why would you?" Eren tilted his head in confusion. The brunette third year wasn't anything impressive aside from her science knowledge; her personality being the worst trait possible.

"Hanji-_san _and _kaichou _are so close to the point people often mistook them as lovers. Ah, but sometimes they thought the Vice President or Mike-_senpai _is her lover instead." Petra chuckled at the thought.

"Wow, she sure gets gossiped a lot despite looking like a guy."

Smiling apologetically, Petra spoke up again, "You're still new here, Eren. Maybe you haven't noticed how close they are," Petra shifted her gaze to Mikasa, "Hanji-_san _broke her arm but went to get help from Mikasa whom she knew is capable of replacing her. Despite everything, she cares about the play, about how _kaichou _would get troubled by her absence."

Eren stared at Petra's softening expression.

"…I heard from the Vice President that _kaichou _and Hanji-_san _went through hell three years ago. I never really get what it means, but I think the two of them share a bond no one could understand."

Eren looked at the President once again, wondering if what Petra told him was true. He had gone through hell three years ago. After Annie and Christa's case, Eren had become sensitive to this kind of topic. In fact, it seemed this kind of thing kept showing itself before him. Eren wondered… what kind of hell Rivaille had gone through.

* * *

_Her lips curled up to show a toothy grin as she held her coat closer to her shivering body._

"_Hey, Rivaille…"_

_He turned to face her, noticing how pale her face was compared to before._

"_As a dying person you will see a lot more of the world than it appears to most people," she looked upward to the starry sky, "No, that's not how I should put it… You see, when you know death is awaiting you, you will have this determination to see everything normal people are allowed to see. Sometimes you even demand more…"_

_From her eyes, he could tell what she wanted to say. His heart clenched at the thought. There were still many things in this world he wanted to show her; especially her favorite world of culinary. Before he could open his mouth to speak up, a voice interrupted him._

"_There you are! Rivaille, what the hell are you doing? Bring her inside. Are you trying to make her catch a cold?"_

_A girl his age stood there hand on hips, as she gave him an enraged look._

_Rivaille was about to snap at her for yelling at him like she was his superior, but when he rose from his spot, a voice called for him._

"…_lle… Rivaille!"_

.

.

"Rivaille!"

A powerful blow landed itself on his left cheek, almost sending him flying to the other side of the room, which, fortunately didn't happen. Instead, he almost fell from his chair.

"—Oh gosh, Rivaille! I thought you're a goner!"

That overly-dramatic voice belonged to only one person. As Rivaille blinked to clear his vision, the figure of Hanji emerged in his sight, cold sweat trailing down her face. He shifted his gaze to her broken arm and sighed inwardly—reminding himself again about how stupid she was to play with two colossal, exotic pets without putting on any armor. He then looked around the room. It was empty. And from the orange-colored room he could tell that it's already afternoon.

Oh man, he spent the first day of the festival sleeping. Not that it mattered, though.

"…Rivaille? Oh, Rivaille, please say something! You're scaring me!" Hanji began shaking his body violently with one arm while yelling hysterically.

"I'm completely fine. Now release me, shitty four-eyes," Rivaille groaned and brushed his shoulder clean once she removed her hands.

Hanji sighed in relief, "You scared me. You know I get sensitive whenever culture festival comes!"

"That's exactly why I wanted you to stay home."

Hanji tilted her head innocently, "Eh? You didn't send me home because of my arm?"

"No. Even if you didn't break your arm I'll tell you to stay home either way."

Hanji blinked, and then laughed. "Aww! Rivaille, you're so sweet! No worries, I'm not that much of a weakling! Rather, aren't you supposed to be the one staying home? Well, I know you did your job well as the President for two festivals in a row already, but don't you think this year is a little different? I mean, with Mikasa around. Doesn't Mikasa remind you of _her_?"

Rivaille looked at Hanji. He wasn't surprised. Because he was already half-expecting that she knew. "So you noticed, too. And that means you deliberately chose her as your replacement."

Nodding enthusiastically, Hanji grinned.

"I'm not so weak as to get bothered by her presence just because she reminds me of _her._" Rivaille rolled his eyes.

Hanji's expression turned serious. Nevertheless, her grin still remained. "We both want to get over with that event," she squeezed her arm to cease her shivering "don't you think so, too, Rivaille?"

He never replied her, only looking outside the window longingly.

* * *

"Alright, let's count our earnings for today."

"Hey, it's barely ten dollars!"

"Shut it, _baldie_! With this ridiculous costumes and ridiculous maids, except for some, how do you expect people to come!?"

"Don't fight guys!"

"Face it, Christa. Most people only come when Mikasa and Annie are around! We should've made a butler café instead!"

"That's right! This is a certain someone's fault!"

Annie looked away, not bothered the slightest by Reiner's glaring at her.

"Now, now," it was surprising to see Ymir taming the atmosphere—very unlike her. "That _senpai _also deserves gratitude. If not for her, I don't think the food here would even be edible, considering the ones cooking are the unskillful guys." Ymir eyed the guys while grinning provocatively, earning glares from them. In the end, Ymir was Ymir.

"Not funny," Reiner rolled his eyes.

Ymir snickered, only to get smacked by Christa in the head.

Christa was about to stay pouting at Ymir's inconsiderateness, but she soon remembered something important. "Ymir! Come to think of it, tomorrow you have club performance in the gym, right?" she asked.

"Aah… Now that you mention it…" Ymir scratched her cheeks as if implying "What a pain…"

Suddenly, Sasha raised her hand, "Me too! I have club performance tomorrow, too!" she chirped.

"So do I," Armin joined.

"Hey, hey, why would you guys participate in a club performance when you know how limited our labor is?" Reiner asked. "Hello! We only have twelve people here!"

"I'll be performing in a play on the last day." Mikasa said.

"You're making things worse, Mikasa! What are we gonna do without you!?"

"Don't worry. Zoë-_senpai _will be helping out in the kitchen while I'm away."

"Zoë…?" Christa tilted her head before her eyes lit up, "Ah! That's why I feel like I've seen her face before! She's Hanji Zoë from the Student Council, right? Papa talks a lot about her," she smiled.

"Your dad does?" Jean raised a brow.

"Yes! He said Zoë-_san _is a very talented young scientist. Papa pays a lot for the drugs she's invented." Christa explained briefly.

"Wow, she must be a real smart-ass." Connie commented.

"I heard from the President that Zoë-_senpai _is from class 3-04, which also consists of the twelve best students." Mikasa added.

"This school never ceased to surprise me. With overly-genius students everywhere," Jean shook his head and sighed.

After discussing a better method for the next day's business, they finally decided to go home.

* * *

When Mikasa stepped into the house, she could hear the sound of streaming water from inside the bathroom. She could guess that it was Eren—since no one aside from him could be inside the house. Without hesitating, she made her way into the bathroom, and without knocking, she opened the glass door.

"Eren, are you—"

"Mikasa!? What the—knock before you enter!" Eren retorted almost immediately. His hands were still in his foamy hair. Mikasa gulped; his lean muscles were exposed under broad daylight.

"But… I was just going to ask if you're going to finish soon…"

"I'm gonna be done soon, okay? Just close the door already! It's cold!"

"I'll join you. Wait there for a moment," Mikasa said as she quickly left and returned as quick, clad in a towel. Her face looked confident as she squeezed the sponge in her hand, "I'll scrub your back."

Eren blinked before realization hit him, "No, Mikasa. I'm serious, just let me wash myself in peace and I'll be right out there in no time. I promise. Okay, put that thing down—No, I'm telling you I can wash myself—_Goddammit_, Mikasa, stop touching me with that thing!"

"You used to make me do this for you."

"It's all in the past!"

"You used to say that I'm good at it."

"I told you it's all—"

"You used to praise me for it…" her eyes glistened.

Groaning, Eren finally gave in, "Okay, okay! There, good girl," he rubbed her head, "happy now?"

Nodding, Mikasa gave a small smile as she continued scrubbing her brother's back. As she did that, she noticed how much broader his shoulder had grown. How much wider his back had become. That little boy from her past had become a young man now. She couldn't help but count how many years were left for them to stay together like this. One day, he would eventually leave her behind. He would marry a fortunate girl and leave her alone.

Her throat dried.

She didn't want that.

She wanted to stay by his side forever.

He didn't have to marry her or anything. She just wanted to be near him until the end of her life. She didn't want to be alone.

Her body trembled at the thought of being left alone.

"…kasa… Mikasa…?"

She flinched before snapping her head up at Eren, "Y-yeah?'

"Why did you stop? Are you done?" he asked.

She didn't notice when her hand had stopped. However, she quickly covered for it, "Yeah. You can get into the bathtub now," she smiled nervously at him.

"'Kay," he said as he rose from his spot. But before he could make it into the bathtub, he accidentally stepped on a soap lying on the floor.

It all happened to fast. If only it was Mikasa who slipped, she would prevent her fall by skillfully moving her limbs. But Eren wasn't Mikasa. And now, he ended up on top of her, their eyes wide…

…and their lips met.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**I know the last scene is cliché, but my fingers are itching to type cliché scene for these two (LoL) At last! There's a visible progress between Eren and Mikasa! Congratulations, me! You did it! :'D**_

_**Oh, and I inserted Petra's lines in this chapter to commemorate her death. Rest in peace, Petra, you will always remain in my heart :'(**_

_**This chapter's quiz will be: "What are Rivaille and Hanji's untold issues?"**_

_**Hey, I know this question is almost impossible to answer due to the limited amount of hints in the chapter. But I really want to know how much you guys pay attention to the whole chapter, and maybe, just maybe, you will be able to give the genius answer we're all craving to see. Yes, I'm talking about you, **_**Nyan-chan! **_**Don't disappoint me ;)**_

_**For my other reviewers, I do wish you luck for the quiz. As for the reward… hmm, let's see… oh, right! For you who give me the right answer, I shall give you a cyber Rivaille plushie~**_

_**Oh! And please tell me if any of you hates RivaHan (you're an exception, **_**Commander Kotori**_**), coz the next chapter will consist of RivaHan scenes. Not exactly romantic, but well, you can see the chemistry everywhere ;)**_

_**Just please tell me your opinion…**_

_**See you next time!**_


	15. A Neglected Tale

**Sorry for taking more than two weeks to update, but I really am out of idea lately. And this abundant amount of shitty homework is holding me back… Ugh… Ninety-six mathematics problems. Deadline: tomorrow. Great, just great…**

**I'm just so sad that SnK anime is over. There's nothing to keep me curious for the whole week now :'(**

**Anyway, as usual, thank you: **_**Seraphicpapilion, silentux131, Shiina Yuki, Zyzz, sereneskydragonslayer, SeraphineHeartfilia, sparkling apples, anime-hq-12345, creativeactive, HayaaShigure-kun, TheFayrinaTale, Commander Kotori, .98, AnimeLoverxxxSinceBirth, dot, Nancy Haibara, .568, ProdigyMeetsStrongestShorty, Chuunibyou Yume, Guest, Guest, meshi-chan, felicity2hawt4u, Brkrth99, solitarycloud, Pointingdeder, Wintersia, Death Appraiser, Gleam Tamers Hikari27, **_**and**_** Saroninas! **_**Please review again! ;)**

**There aren't many people giving the answer to the previous chapter's quiz, and even lesser of them gave the right guess. The best answer is given by **_**Nancy Haibara **_**as usual, though, but still just the rough idea of it. But well, the answer isn't gonna be revealed in this chapter anyway so I'll ask the same question once again. With the same prize :3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

* * *

The feeling was familiar. He had felt this countless times before; the cold floor, the cloth between his jaws, the rope immobilizing his limbs… blindfold. It was all too familiar to ignore.

He was kidnapped.

And he wasn't alone, he knew.

Even though his eyes were covered, he could sense the body warmth emitted from the person beside him. They were kidnapped together, it seemed.

He sighed. Ten years of life and this was the fifteenth time he got kidnapped.

A husky voice echoed inside the room, "Lucky… this kid's an Oriental. We're gonna get plenty."

_An Oriental? Who were they talking about?_ He thought to himself, wondering if there were still plenty of kids here aside from him and her. As far as he knew, none of them were Orientals.

Not long after he could feel his vision slowly coming back when he kidnappers removed his blindfold the cloth between his jaws. There were three of them, built men. As he had expected, beside him was her.

She smiled apologetically at him, "Sorry… we should've gotten home right away instead of taking a detour…" she whispered weakly.

He rolled his eyes, "Shut up. Just hurry up so we can go home right away."

"Okey dokey," she grinned before twisting her hands and snapped the rope binding them in a blink of an eye, startling the three kidnappers in unison. She did the same with her feet and completely broke free in a matter of seconds.

"Sit right there like a good boy and wait, would you, Rivaille?" she smiled and he gave her a low 'hm'. She nodded and launched herself at one of the three men.

Kicking the cold, cement floor, she launched her fist at the nearest man and sent him flying to the other side of the room, cracking the walls in the process. She let out a loud laugh of satisfactory before moving to the second man. Humming, she started cracking her stiff knuckles. Her brown eyes glistened in amusement, almost devilish.

"Y-you're a monster!"

"What's with that ridiculous strength? This is—" before he could finish the sentence, his chin received a powerful uppercut from below. The little girl moved too fast for his eyes to catch. He could feel his chin bleeding and screamed in agony when he realized he had bit his tongue as well.

The last man had fallen on his butt after his knees went numb. The brown-eyed girl expanded her smirk; her wavy brown hair framing her demonic face. Slowly, she took a step after the other toward the cowering man.

To her surprise, the man suddenly got up and ran toward Rivaille who was sitting on the corner of the room waiting for her. She quickly snapped her head up to his direction and kicked the floor in attempt to reach Rivaille before the man did. Rivaille still had his limbs tied and his movements were limited.

The man was holding something resembling an injection with overly-suspicious red liquid inside. Alarmed by the seemingly dangerous substance, she quickened her pace and finally able to reach Rivaille before the man. She stood protectively before the boy and received the injection in his stead, right in her abdomen.

She winced in pain and fell to the ground, holding her abdomen to cease the pain.

The man smirked devilishly, however he was shot in the leg before anything could happen. The police had arrived in the nick of time.

After Rivaille was untied, he quickly ran to her side, almost had the urge to scold her for being too reckless and confident but he'd save it for later. The girl was sitting on the ground, still holding her aching abdomen while grimacing, "Owwiee…" she moaned while rubbing her abdomen.

"You fine? That was brave of you, Hanji…" he said, offering a hand.

Hanji looked up and forced a smile despite her slightly pale and sweaty face. Using her right hand, she pointed up her index and middle finger, "Peace…" she showed a toothy grin.

* * *

**Chapter 15. A Neglected Tale**

* * *

_Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived under the floors of a house._

_Unbeknownst by the people living in the house, she stole little by little their house supply to complement hers. _

_Little by little so that no one would notice_—

—_Carefully and thoroughly so that no one would find her._

_The little girl lived her never-changing life under the floors for twelve years, at times happy and at times blue. _

_But one day, she was found by the little boy in the house. Oh no, what should she do? She was found. Now she couldn't steal from this house anymore. Furthermore, what would this little boy think of her? She wanted to defend herself but could never find the suitable thing to say. In the end, she surrendered to the little boy's personal opinion._

"_Don't you want to live in the house?" asked the boy._

_The little girl never expected the offer. Hesitantly but surely, she asked, "Can I?"_

_Having been expecting the question, the little boy smiled and_—

.

.

"Would you stop reading the picture book and get your ass over here? We're going now," Rivaille said from the doorway.

"Aww… You're so mean… You used to like that picture book, too."

"When I was a brat, that is. Now get here or I'm going to let you rot inside the house alone for the day. Let's go, Irvin," Rivaille gestured Irvin, who only smiled at the two's daily bickering, to follow him as he marched out of the house. Afraid of being left behind, Hanji quickly rose from her seat and followed suit.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

Cold sweat trailed down his face as he held his breath at the tension emitted from his both sides. Armin carefully glanced to his left, only to find the ever quiet Mikasa. There was nothing unusual, except she was hiding half of her face behind her maroon scarf for some unknown reason, as well as refusing to talk since the early morning.

The same thing applied to Eren. The green-eyed German boy appeared as though he was trying his best not to frown—something he did when he was visibly bothered by something—only to fail miserably due to his face resembling a person holding back a fart.

There were two conclusions Armin came up with: One, Eren and Mikasa fought over trivial matters—again—or two, they saw each other in an embarrassing state and now they're too bothered to look at each other's face—it had happened a couple of times before. But then again, he could be entirely wrong, since Mikasa was usually more collected when facing this kind of occasion. And it was usually Eren who made a big deal out of every fight they had.

But today, Armin noticed Mikasa averting her gaze from Eren as if refusing any eye contact.

_What could've happened to them?_

Poor little Armin had to walk all the way to school under the pressure of his two best friends' deathly silence; a very tragic story.

* * *

Without warning, the door to the Student Council room was slammed open.

"_Guten morgen_!"

"Ah. Good morning, Hanji-_san._" Petra smiled.

"Eh? You're alone, Petra? Where are the others?" Hanji held her palm over her forehead and scanned the room. Rivaille and Irvin entered the room soon after with Rivaille completely ignoring her overactiveness while Irvin smiled at it.

"They're helping out our class. But they will be here in a short while."

"Ooh!" Hanji clapped her hands before skipping toward Petra's seat and kneeled beside her due to the absence of chairs. "I heard your class is doing fortune-telling or something? I'd like to give it a shot!" she beamed.

"Really? Please do!" Petra smiled again.

As the girls continued their talk, Rivaille took out the manuscript from his bag and read it over again. He wasn't really fond of performing on-stage, really. He only did it because a certain someone looked very enthusiastic about the whole drama plans. Tragically, that certain someone had to be replaced due to injury after having been waiting excitedly for the past month—_tragically so._

Except that person didn't seem that disappointed at all.

Groaning mentally, Rivaille continued reading and Irvin did the same. Suddenly, the Student Council President was reminded of Mikasa. Had she memorized all the lines? Well, it's Mikasa. Of course she would have memorized it all by now. He guessed she would have memorized it all overnight at the most.

* * *

Mikasa sneezed.

"…Mikasa? Are you alright? Did you catch a cold?" Armin asked in worried tone and he could see Eren stealing a glance at Mikasa when he did.

Giving a single nod, Mikasa answered, "I'm fine."

"Thank goodness. I can't imagine how it would be if you really caught a cold. I mean, you haven't been sick for years."

"Yeah," she rubbed her nose. "I just remembered that I haven't touched the script I'm supposed to memorize. I wonder if I can finish memorizing it by tonight." Sighing, Mikasa went to the back to change her clothes.

Armin looked back and forth at Mikasa and Eren, still wondering what was wrong between the two.

As Mikasa made her way to the changing room, she—_unluckily_—ran into Annie, who was also changing her clothes. The blonde had almost finished changing by the time Mikasa went in—she was putting on a pair of white gloves.

Annie wore her hair in her usual ponytail and the dark butler outfit hugged her petite body perfectly. She didn't even bother to wear make-up at the least. However, Mikasa had to admit that the blonde was indeed a charming lass—her beauty was natural and not artificial. Despite the scary face she wore every day, it didn't actually hide her beauty. Her pale skin and equally pale hair and eyes made her appear like a fragile little girl.

Turning slowly, Annie set her gaze on the dark-haired girl. "Oh, it's just you." And she returned to her previous activity.

Mikasa ignored the blonde and went to the opposite side before undoing her school uniform. Carefully, she put on her costumes afterward. Annie didn't leave, but instead, looked at Mikasa with her signature apathetic gaze. Her blue eyes seemed to glint in amusement as she leaned against the wall with her arms crosses.

"…Why are you still here?" Mikasa asked with a glare. Her hands were doing her hair, tying the dark locks into a short ponytail. She didn't push her bangs away and let it fell between her eyes like usual.

"No particular reason," Annie shrugged.

Mikasa had always hated that attitude of Annie's. The petite blonde had the tendency to give her ambiguous answers to her questions and it always managed to hit her nerve, _hard._ Another reason she hated Annie was because the blonde was too close to Eren.

"You know what? You look similar to that model I saw in a magazine the other day," Annie said and Mikasa jumped involuntarily.

Annie's lips formed a hidden smirk before she made her leave.

"I guess it's just my imagination," she said one last time before disappearing behind the curtain.

Mikasa visibly shuddered. Her job was one thing she didn't anyone to know—for many reasons. Troublesome gossips would emerge, and worse, she would be treated differently from the other students more than now. She sighed. She didn't really like being favored by everyone in the school, actually. It made her feel isolated.

But then again, as long as Eren was by her side, she didn't really care.

But if everybody found out about her job, Rivaille-_kaichou _would also be pulled into the mess. She didn't want to trouble anyone besides herself.

Walking toward the curtain separating the changing room and the kitchen, Mikasa bumped into Annie again. She was about to question Annie as to why she was standing in the way but she gape when she saw what Annie was seeing.

"Come on, Eren, I told you it's cute! You didn't wear this yesterday so today you have to look appealing today!"

"At least remove the wig! I don't need—"

"It looks good on you, I promise!"

"Yeah, so good it makes me smile—_pfft_!" Ymir covered her mouth and Christa elbowed her stomach. Eren also glared at the taller girl.

"Come on, Eren, you don't know how deserted this place was yesterday. At this rate we're going to go bankrupt!" Reiner begged.

"We have to add as many attractive—_pfft_—maids as possible!" Connie added, snickering.

Mikasa ignored Ymir and Connie's mocking comments and concentrated her gaze on Eren who stood in the center of them all. He stood out like a flower in a mountain of straws. He wore his hair down and a little part of it was tied behind while his bangs still formed a curtain as usual. Of course, it was only a wig. But he looked irresistibly cute with it.

Realizing that she had been staring for too long, Mikasa put her attention elsewhere. Yeah, like Annie for example. But when Mikasa turned around, the blonde had already stood beside Reiner and the two of them seemed to be talking about something private.

She turned to look at Sasha instead. It was always refreshing looking at the glutton. She was peacefully eating French fries without any care on whatever might happen to the world.

* * *

A woman stood before the merry school ground and smirked as she removed her sunglasses, allowing her blue eyes to gaze directly at the place. The cooling scarf around her neck moved in synch with her every step when she walked.

Everyone around had started whispering.

"Hey, isn't that that model?"

"Yeah! She looks so young!"

"I heard she already has a son in high school, you know?"

"You're kidding me!"

"Seriously, she's almost 40 already!"

"She looks like she's still in her 20s."

Her smirk expanding satisfyingly, she retrieved a piece of paper from her purse and scanned it carefully and thoroughly. It was quite confusing to just hear the direction from her son so she had him made her a map, though it was too odd to grasp. "Let's see…" she raised a brow but smiled soon after, "the special class, class 1-04. I think it's around there, huh?" she said to herself while pointing at a three-story building.

She put the paper back inside her bag, "Wait for Mommy, Reiner~"

Before she could make her way to class 1-04, she spotted someone familiar.

* * *

"I'm sorry for asking you to lend a hand. You must be busy with your class' event, too." Petra smiled apologetically as she arranged the set of Tarot cards on the dark tablecloth.

"It's fine, Petra_-san. _In fact, I'm glad I can get out of that class. It's suffocating me to stay there," Eren shivered at the thought of wearing maid outfit once again. True, Christa and Armin were more popular maids than him and were more of the center of attention, but still, he was stood out too much for anyone not to notice. It was all because they forced him to wear those ridiculously _pink _accessories.

"Petra! Rivaille-_kaichou_ needs your help at the SC!" Auruo called out.

"Oh no, I'll be leaving everything to you here, would that be fine, Eren?" Petra asked.

Eren nodded, "Leave it to me."

Petra nodded as well and smiled before leaving with Auruo.

Eren adjusted the occult goods on the table and found a dark, oracle cloak and curiosity built inside him. He decided to try it on. He laughed when he saw himself on the mirror, looking all mysterious and dark as the hood had covered half of his face. It was amazing how clothes could completely change someone's aura.

Walking around in the cloak, Eren hadn't felt satisfied. He sat inside the fortune-telling booth and started browsing the Tarot cards.

"…the Fool, the Magician, the High Priestess... What's this all about? Can these cards really predict someone's future?" he mumbled to himself.

When Eren returned the cards to their former spot, someone entered the booth, most likely a customer since she came from the front entrance. Eren just wanted to tell the customer that the real fortune-teller wasn't present yet but cancelled his attempt when he saw his foster sister sitting on the seat across him.

"Excuse me, can you tell my future?" Mikasa asked calmly.

Eren gulped, his adrenaline working harder than needed. Not able to come up with any way to escape the situation, he decided to change his voice instead. He cleared his throat and mimicked the deep, raspy voice of an old man he saw in Harry Potter the other day.

"Well, sure. What method would you want?" he looked at the goods on the table "Tarot cards, crystal ball, palmistry…"

Mikasa stayed silent for a while and Eren almost thought she found out. But she then spoke up, "I don't know. My friends urged me to visit this place to have my mind cleared. They're good friends. I just don't wish to worry them further."

Eren blinked. Was Mikasa really bothered by last night's accident? Well, he didn't have the right to talk about her since he also received a hard blow from that accident. But if this fortune-telling could ease her stress, then so be it.

Mikasa knitted her brows and began thinking about what she wanted the oracle to tell her, "…I want you to tell me about my life…"

"Very well."

Eren's hand reached for the deck of cards on his left side and put it before Mikasa after scattering them. The girl looked at the cards questioningly.

"Draw five cards and arrange them in line."

Mikasa nodded and did as she was told. After Mikasa placed the five cards, Eren retrieved the remaining cards and put them back to their original place.

"This one," he touched the first card "represents your past." He flipped the card, which was _'The Strength'_. Eren had no idea how to read the card, but it was Mikasa's past, and he knew everything about her. "It means you have gone through something very tragic, however you managed to gain the very strength from it."

"Yes," Mikasa nodded.

"This one," he touched the second card "represents the most important event that had happened recently." He flipped the card, which was _'The Wheel of Fortune'. _He could think of a thing he had done last week. "It means you lost something important but had also gained another of equal value."

Mikasa remembered the time when she almost lost her most treasured scarf. She looked at the red bracelet circling her right wrist and almost smiled, "Yes."

"This one," he touched the third card "represents an important event that is currently happening." He flipped the card, which was _'The Lovers' _and he almost jumped the moment he saw it. What the hell? What should he say? If he recalled correctly, Petra once told him something about this card being a _choice._

"It means the choice you make now will decide your bond with your dearest one." He blurted it out without actually thinking.

Mikasa was visibly bothered by this one, "…Yes."

"This one," he continued "represents an important event that would occur in the near future." He flipped the card, which was _'The High Priestess'. _From seeing the card, he could feel warmth. "It means, whatever might happen, you must follow what your heart tells you."

"Yes."

"And the last one," he touched the last card "represents your future." He flipped the card, which was—wait, why? Why did _this _have to be the last card? It gave him uneasy feeling.

The last card was _'The Death'_.

Eren gulped and decided to peek on Mikasa's reaction. The girl was unsurprisingly calm as always. Perhaps she didn't actually believe in fortune-telling at all.

"It means something really bad will happen."

Eren almost immediately grabbed the deck of cards and presented it before Mikasa once again, earning a quizzical look from the girl. He told her to draw one more card and she agreed. The card she drew was one of the minor arcanas, '_The Knight of Sword'. _

"It means a knight in shining armor will save you from it," Eren smiled behind the hood, actually glad she drew that card instead of another unlucky one.

On the other hand, Mikasa also looked glad.

_Does it mean she really believes in fortune-telling?_ Eren thought to himself.

Rising from her seat, Mikasa thanked him and paid before leaving.

Eren sighed in relief that his cover wasn't blown.

* * *

Reiner hid his face behind his palm while fighting the urge to cry out loud at the humiliation he's experiencing at the moment. Beside him, Annie patted his shoulder in pity, though he already knew that she was actually having fun. The blonde had always had this sadistic side in her.

Just like _her._

"I'd like to order this _Lovely Strawberry Parfait _along with a blow kiss from the maid—wait, Reiner, are you listening?"

Reiner felt like killing himself on the spot.

"Earth to Reiner! Hey, are you still there?" Mrs. Braun waved her hand over Reiner's face.

With a powerful jab from Annie, Reiner returned to reality. His mother's expression had turned a little sour. She never liked it when someone ignored her. And when Reiner averted his gaze to the person sitting in the same table as his mom, his eyes widened.

It was a middle-aged man who looked proper. His style screamed out _rich _the moment you landed a gaze at him.

"Mom, who's this man?" Reiner asked. It wasn't a funny joke if his mom finally made a move on some rich guy just because his dad was rarely home.

"Why are you being so tense? Isn't it fine? Your dad's almost never home anyway," Mrs. Braun waved her hand while laughing "Right, Annie-_chan_?"

"A-ah…" Annie could never oppose the woman.

"It's not funny!"

"Okay, just kidding," she stuck out her tongue playfully.

The man chuckled at the mother and son's interaction. He then removed his hat and politely bowed to introduce himself, "I am the producer of where your mother works, Reiner. You can call me Mr. Pétit," he smiled.

…_P__é__tit? That's a ridiculous name,_ Reiner thought but would never say it out loud.

"Anyway, Reiner, I am here to look for your classmate. Her name is… Mikasa Ackerman, I think…"

"Mikasa?" both Annie and Reiner exchanged look.

* * *

"Sorry to trouble you, Petra. But Rivaille just won't let me do it by myself," Hanji smiled apologetically at the younger girl.

Petra could only giggle as she redo Hanji's bandage, "_Kaichou _really cares about you, Hanji-_san._"

"Is that so?" Hanji looked at the sleeping President while raising a brow. He must have slept in after overworking himself again. _And he said he isn't so weak as to get bothered by the memory of _her. _Just look at him now… He gets physically weak as well._

After she was done with her work, Petra excused herself and left.

Hanji stared at Rivaille again. It was only the two of them in the room now.

* * *

"…Mikasa!"

The raven-haired girl turned around just to see Sasha waving her hand at her.

"A bearded man is looking for you!" Sasha informed.

Mikasa raised a brow. _A bearded man?_

"He's sitting right there!" Sasha pointed at the table in the center of the room. Mikasa could see Annie and Reiner standing next to it. Sitting at the table was a quite familiar young woman with blonde hair and sitting opposite her was the bearded man Sasha was talking about.

Mikasa approached the said table and the bearded man quickly noticed her, much to her surprise.

"Is that you, Mikasa Ackerman?" he asked with expectation.

"…Yes. May I help you?"

"Yes. Yes, you may. Please, have a seat." He stood up and politely pulled the chair to offer Mikasa a seat.

Calmly, Mikasa took the offer.

Mrs. Braun smiled knowingly and stood up, "Well, I'll be leaving now, then. Have fun, Mr. Pétit," she said before pulling Reiner and Annie with her.

"Hey, where are you taking us, mom!? Mom, let me go!"

"Aren't you going to show me around?"

"At least let me change my clothes first!"

"There's no time for that. You look good, anyway. Not as good as Annie-chan, though. Right, Annie-chan?" she giggled and Annie agreed.

"Where did the high and mighty Annie go!? Are you just going to listen to everything she—"

"Shut up and get to walk!" Mrs. Braun pumped her fist childishly before marching out of the room, ignoring every single complaint from Reiner.

"_NOOOOOOO_!"

His voice echoed throughout the corridor.

Mr. Pétit chuckled at the commotion before turning back to face Mikasa. "Well, do you know me, Mikasa…_chan_?"

Mikasa shook her head.

The man offered his hand, "You can call me Mr. Pétit. I am Rivaille's Father. I'm pretty sure you know my son, don't you?" he showed a toothy grin.

Mikasa's eyes visibly widened. "_Kaichou_'s… father?" her mouth agape when taking his hand.

He nodded, "And, I am here because Rivaille keeps breaking his promise to let me meet you. I grew impatient and decided to use this opportunity to look for you. He is unaware that I am here so please keep it a secret," he put a finger on his smiling lips and Mikasa nodded.

"Come to think of it, Mikasa_-chan_, you have such a pretty face. Who is your Mother, if I may ask?"

"She's already gone when I was nine… Her name is Miyuki. I don't remember her maiden name…"

The man's expression dropped even though he tried to hide it.

"Very well, then." He collected his composure, "Have you perhaps heard anything from Rivaille regarding our family?" he asked.

"Not really. Just some information from Hanji Zoë-_senpai…_"

Mr. Pétit raised a brow at that, "…You heard it from Hanji…?"

Mikasa tilted her head. Did she say something wrong? But she was certain there was nothing wrong with what she said. There wasn't any false information as well.

"…Hanji, you say?" the man asked again.

"Yes?"

* * *

Hanji smiled at the sleeping figure before her. She wanted to poke his cheek but she didn't want him to yell at her break another one of her bone. She used to do it often when they were small and they would get into an argument afterward.

She giggled silently.

"…ji…"

She blinked. Did he just sleep-talk?

She leaned closer to listen better to him.

"…Hanji…" he murmured.

Hanji's eyes widened but then she smiled bitterly. Straightening her back, she stood up and left.

* * *

"Hanji… That girl," Mr. Pétit narrowed his eyes dangerously, "regretfully, she passed away three years ago…"

Mikasa felt her heartbeat stopped.

"…on the last day of the festival just like this one."

_TO BE CONTINUED_

* * *

_**I just hope you guys don't hate this chapter. It took me a long time to finish this one so it's kinda crappy. And for the fortune-telling scene, no, I'm not a fortune-teller nor have I been foretold about my future before so forgive me if it's a little weird DX**_

_**In case you forgot, the quiz for this chapter is once again: "What are Rivaille and Hanji's untold issues?" **_

_**There are a lot more hints in this chapter compared to the previous one so I expect a better answer from all of you ;)**_

_**By the way, I'm really hooked on this song, **_**Gift of a Friend **_**by **_**Demi Lovato. **_**I'm usually not fond of songs besides Japanese ones but this one really gives me the chill! I listen to that song while arranging plots in my head and it turns out great. I'm feeling grateful to it.**_

_**See you next time~**_


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